From April 2022 to March 2024, 76 families with young children in Yolo County, California participated in a Basic Income study that brought family income a single dollar above the California poverty line, $1,289 per month. Even though the amount of money was small, the outcomes were dramatic, not just in day-to-day expenses, but in long-term attitudes and approaches to life.
Reading the local news coverage of the program, you can see these young families breathing easier — you can feel them start to actually live.
“Participants used the funds to cover housing, transportation, clothing, health care, childcare, child enrichment and development, and daily living expenses ... Many families had never had discretionary funds and described using extra income for fun experiences, clothes, or opportunities for their children.”
People who had never had enough to survive no longer had to hope for better lives — they could experience a better life, know that it is possible, and make plans for the future.
Some people reported being able to save enough money for emergency expenses. Many appreciated having a bit of a safety net for unexpected expenses. A few outliers were able to save money to help pay for school, start a college savings account for a child, or put towards a down payment for a new home.
The outcomes are compelling for such a relatively small amount of money.
The influence of being just a single dollar over the poverty line — again, only $1,289 per month — literally saves lives.
The increased financial security offered participants to envision a different life for themselves. Reflecting the feelings many described about the program offering some reprieve from the struggle, one participant shared:
“… I was in the dark, basically struggling all the time. So when I came to this program, I really opened my eyes … life can be better … more, you know, positive instead of just in stuck in this dark hole. … It got me out of that survival mode. And now I’m just living life instead of struggling.”
Direct cash transfers grant trust and agency to participants, who can decide how best to put the money to use. Study after study shows the same thing — families buy what they need to survive.
“Participants universally appreciated the advantage of having unrestricted financial resources that allowed them to pay for the things most urgent and relevant to their personal situation.”
In Yolo County, unfortunately, almost all the participants fell back into poverty when the two-year study ran its course, because the systemic problems that cause poverty are still present — primarily soaring housing costs and stagnant wages. But one has to wonder, for a mere $1,289 per month, delivered to the most vulnerable in a community, such as low income families with young children... why did this program have to end at all?
The aptly named “I'd Probably Be Homeless” Guaranteed Income study shows exactly what lifting the most vulnerable families in our communities a single, solitary dollar over the poverty line can do. It’s right there in the title, hiding in plain sight.
If study after study shows that Guaranteed Minimum Income works, and we have the vast wealth of our second gilded age to fund it, why aren’t we doing it? Shouldn’t we be putting all that money to work, to help someone, somewhere, somehow? This is a question we should be asking our representatives more and more urgently... and never stop asking until they provide a reasonable answer.
