A California city gave some residents $500 per month. After a year, the group wound up with more full-time jobs and less depression.

By ARIA BENDIX

Lorrine Paradela, a 45-year-old single mother, participated in Stockton’s basic-income pilot. In Stockton, California, 125 residents got $500 per month, no strings attached, for two years. After a year, full-time employment among them had increased, and depression and anxiety had decreased.

The experiment ended in January but has inspired other mayors to launch more basic-income pilots. Michael Tubbs didn’t see much risk in giving money to his city’s poorest residents, no strings attached. The former mayor of Stockton, a city in California’s Central Valley, is a strong proponent of universal basic income, a policy that essentially pays people for being alive as a way to alleviate poverty.

“My belief in it came from being raised by three amazing women, including my single mom,” Tubbs told Insider. “The issue wasn’t that they couldn’t manage money. The issue was they never had enough money to manage.” As mayor, Tubbs spearheaded the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, a pilot program that gave 125 residents debit cards loaded with $500 each month.

The program launched in February 2019 and ended in January. Advertisement Its critics argued that cash stipends would reduce the incentive for people to find jobs. But the SEED program met its […]

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