About Guaranteed Income
What is Guaranteed Income (GI)?
Guaranteed Income is a well-researched direct aid program that provides a fixed sum of money over a fixed period of time directly to eligible recipients. It is a no-strings attached program, meaning that we trust recipients to know what their family’s most urgent needs are and to make the best choices for themselves and their households.
How do GI recipients usually spend their payments?
While each program and population are a bit different, groceries are typically the largest expenditure, at around 35%, followed closely by retail sales and services, at around 33%. These are followed roughly by housing and utilities costs (10%), transportation (10%), and healthcare/medical expenses (7%).
What kind of impact do these programs have?
While impact varies a bit by program and measurement design, research consistently shows that well-designed GI programs reduce income volatility in the household and significantly improve the mental health and wellbeing of enrolled participants. Many studies also see substantial improvements in employment, better nutrition in the household, improved ability to sustain a $400 emergency, and more willingness to make choices and take risks.
Guaranteed income resources
If you'd like to learn more about the Guaranteed Income model, or read about pilot projects that have happened all around the country, here are resources full of research and useful information.
Stanford | Basic Income Lab