It’s no secret that the unhoused populations in some cities have exploded in recent years. The truth is, it’s an issue everywhere and an embarrassment to our society as a whole.
These researchers wanted to know what would happen if they gave unhoused people a reliable monthly income – and the results are pretty surprising.
The team, out of the University of Southern California, gave 103 randomly selected unhoused individuals $750 a month. They resided in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles County.
For the first six months of the study, the participants spent almost 40% of their budget on food, with only 13.6% classified as expenses other than food, housing, clothing, and healthcare.
Only 2% went to drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes, which they believe helps alleviate the stereotypes perpetuated by so many when giving to the homeless is discussed.
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More importantly, having a reliable $750 a month meant many of these people could get off the streets.
“The proportion of people who reported spending time unsheltered in the past month decreased from 30 percent at baseline to under 12 percent at the 6-month follow-up, which was a statistically significant change.”
Research on the impact of a universal basic income is increasing, and almost all of the studies end with positive results.
A similar study was done in Denver, CO, where unhoused people used a monthly stipend to get a job, pay off debt, find housing, and other positives.
In Stockton, CA, random residents were given $500 a month. The city saw an increase in full time employment, and the recipients said they were physically and mentally healthier.
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This is all important research given that some advocates for a universal basic income (UBI) say that as AI takes more and more jobs, everyone is going to need help in order to stay out of poverty.
We’ll have to wait and see what the government does with all of this research in the future.
There’s really no way to guess.