Remarkableriots Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Austin experimented with giving people $1,000 a month. They said they spent the no-strings-attached cash mostly on housing. WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM A guaranteed-basic-income plan in Austin that gave low-income residents $1,000 a month appeared to reduce housing insecurity. Quote After the yearlong program, surveys suggested participants were "substantially more housing secure" than when they enrolled, while other Texas residents with low incomes became "modestly less housing secure" over the same period, the report said. The program also appeared to help reduce food insecurity among participants — the number of participants who reported being unable to afford to eat a balanced meal decreased by 17 percentage points after a year. Taniquewa Brewster, a single mother who started receiving payments from the program in September 2022, told KXAN, a local NBC affiliate, that the money she received helped her pay for medical expenses and medicine following an eight-day hospital stay. Austin was the first city in Texas to launch a taxpayer-funded guaranteed-income program when the Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot kicked off in May 2022. The program served 135 low-income families, each receiving $1,000 monthly. Funding for 85 families came from the City of Austin, while philanthropic donations funded the other 50. The program was billed as a means to boost people out of poverty and help them afford housing. "We know that if we trust people to make the right decisions for themselves and their families, it leads to better outcomes," the city says on its website. "It leads to better jobs, increased savings, food security, housing security." Last week, State Sen. Paul Bettencourt sent a letter to the state's attorney general asking him to declare a new program in Houston as unconstitutional. Harris County, which includes Houston, earlier this month launched a guaranteed-income program that gives low-income residents $500 a month. The county's attorney told the Houston Chronicle that Bettencourt was "more focused on political games and weaponizing government institutions than making life better for the people of Harris County." Many other cities around the United States are also experimenting with basic-income projects to address rising homelessness and support their most vulnerable residents. In Baltimore, the Baltimore Young Families Success Fund gives young parents $1,000 a month. The director of policy of the CASH Campaign of Maryland, Tonaeya Moore, previously told Business Insider that surveys suggested participants mostly spent their money on the same general necessities, such as housing and food. And in Denver, a basic-income program that gives some people up to $1,000 a month was recently extended after participants reported increased housing security. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Listen, this pilot project is going to end like all of the previous ones since the 1970s: it's a big success and then gets cancelled and never talked about again. 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbob42 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 20 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said: Listen, this pilot project is going to end like all of the previous ones since the 1970s: it's a big success and then gets cancelled and never talked about again. Was just about to post this almost verbatim. "It worked amazingly well! Everyone was happier and stimulated the economy while having dramatically reduced anxiety!" No word on anything like it again for 10 years where another city does it and has the same results. Repeat forever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I'm a big proponent of UBI. It's probably going to be necessary when/if AI and other technology advances make large swaths of the workforce unemployed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 That money would have gotten 33 people off the criminally large Texas Medicaid home care waiver waiting list which is north of 318,750 people waiting. 33 isn't a lot but it is still 33 people now receiving services. 9 minutes ago, mclumber1 said: I'm a big proponent of UBI. It's probably going to be necessary when/if AI and other technology advances make large swaths of the workforce unemployed. Maybe, but the work force in other sectors, like long term care, is going to need to double in the next 10 years. Not to mention heavy industry we're going to need to bring back to the US soon. If AI can free up the work force for other uses, great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unogueen Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 41 minutes ago, Jwheel86 said: That money would have gotten 33 people off the criminally large Texas Medicaid home care waiver waiting list which is north of 318,750 people waiting. 33 isn't a lot but it is still 33 people now receiving services. Maybe, but the work force in other sectors, like long term care, is going to need to double in the next 10 years. Not to mention heavy industry we're going to need to bring back to the US soon. If AI can free up the work force for other uses, great. Humans for human jobs. Makes sense. Assuming healthcare wants the uplift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUFKAK Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 You can’t even get the impatient nursing jobs filled, good luck with ltc and home care options Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodger Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 12 hours ago, Xbob42 said: Was just about to post this almost verbatim. "It worked amazingly well! Everyone was happier and stimulated the economy while having dramatically reduced anxiety!" No word on anything like it again for 10 years where another city does it and has the same results. Repeat forever. Right in the first paragraph Quote After the yearlong program, surveys suggested participants were "substantially more housing secure" than when they enrolled, while other Texas residents with low incomes became "modestly less housing secure" over the same period, the report said. Though they never expand on it. Doesn't seem like it was enough people involved to cause rent to go up but sounds like some people were negatively impacted, but they don't bother to mention how many or specifically how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 25 minutes ago, Dodger said: Though they never expand on it. Doesn't seem like it was enough people involved to cause rent to go up but sounds like some people were negatively impacted, but they don't bother to mention how many or specifically how. I don't think that paragraph is drawing a correlation between the positive outcome for those participating in the program and those Texas residents who experienced a reduction in housing security during the period. My interpretation is that there was an overall reduction in housing security for low income individuals that was abated for those who participated in the program. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbob42 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Yes, participants were substantially more housing secure. While other Texas residents (read: not participants) with low income became modestly less housing secure over the same period. So again, wild success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spawn_of_Apathy Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 19 hours ago, CitizenVectron said: Listen, this pilot project is going to end like all of the previous ones since the 1970s: it's a big success and then gets cancelled and never talked about again. not only not talked about, but whenever Republicans will talk about universal basic income they’ll claim people will stop working entirely or spend it on drugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legend Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said: not only not talked about, but whenever Republicans will talk about universal basic income they’ll claim people will stop working entirely or spend it on drugs. Their stance on that is so weird to me. Plenty of people with well more the secure finances continue to work hard. Sometimes even just to acquire even more wealth! The history of world overwhelmingly shows people aren't just going to be satisfied with the bare minimum and will work for more. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbob42 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 It's almost like when I can generate more wealth than "barely fucking staying alive and being miserable" I go from dreading work because it just prolongs this cycle of unhappiness to working harder because now I can get things I want, go places I want, be healthier and happier and enjoy life more! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nokra Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 You guys are forgetting that if there is a UBI, that means that women, minorities, and other undesirables might be happy. And that is something the modern GOP just can not abide. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyPiranha Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Seems like UBI would be less helpful than guaranteed housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbob42 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, LazyPiranha said: Seems like UBI would be less helpful than guaranteed housing. We're not ready to talk about how just fucking giving everyone a basic ass house would be life-changing for almost the entire nation, while still allowing them to attain bigger or "better" houses if they wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, LazyPiranha said: Seems like UBI would be less helpful than guaranteed housing. You mean like how the Soviets did it?! Not in MY America! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.