After receiving $500 per month for two years without rules on how to spend it, 125 people in California paid off debt, got full-time jobs and had “statistically significant improvements” in emotional health, according to a study released Wednesday.
The program was the nation’s highest-profile experiment in decades of universal basic income (UBI), an idea that gained national attention when it became a major part of Andrew Yang’s 2020 campaign for president.
The central idea behind UBI is to lift people out of poverty with a guaranteed monthly income. Supporters say it gives people needed financial security to find good jobs and avoid debt. But critics have argued free money would eliminate the incentive to work, creating a society dependent on the state.
The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration sought to test those claims. Run by the not-for-profit organization Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, founded by Michael Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton, California, the program included people who lived in […]
During my life when I was working in what was considered very important jobs with high qualifications required, I was only paid about $21,000 at the most per year and never more. Of course I am in my mid-70’s and that was a long time ago.
P.S.: I now make less than $12,000 per year on S.S.