The mayor of Oakland, California announced all low-income residents will receive $500 a month from the city with no rules attached.
The privately funded program promises monthly “guaranteed income” to low-income residents to help ease the stresses of poverty.
“We have designed this demonstration project to add to the body of evidence, and to begin this relentless campaign to adopt a guaranteed income federally,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
An independent study conducted after the previous mayor gave low-income Oakland residents $500 each found that “compared to a control group, residents who received regular payments experienced less income volatility, secured more full-time employment, were better parents and partners, and even saw improvements in their health and overall well-being.”
The program is open to qualified low-income residents who have at least one child under the age 18 and earn at or below 50% of the area median income — about $59,000 per year for a family of three.
Only Black people, Indigenous and people of color are eligible to apply.
So far, the “Oakland Resilient Families” program has raised $6.75 million from private donors, CBS News reported.