Just give people money
Universal Basic Income programs work. Let's do them on a nationwide scale.
In what might be the largest scale universal basic income program ever attempted, in 2021, the US paid most families between $250 and $300 per child every month. There were minimal strings attached. To get the money, you had to have children. That’s it. That covers some 33 million+ households in the US. The program was wildly successful. Just giving people money directly with no strings attached for one year had the effect of cutting the child poverty rate by 46%. Despite how good this outcome was, Republicans and Senator Joe Manchin combined to stop renewal of the program. Why Republicans and Joe Manchin love child poverty is beyond me.
Universal Basic Income (UBI), the idea that we should just pay people money with no strings attached, has been gaining popularity for some time now and for good reason: it works really well! In San Antonio, a pilot UBI program that paid out $5108 over 25 months to 1,000 participants. The effects were uniformly positive for participants:
San Antonio participants also told UpTogether that the GBI payments significantly improved their mental health. Many survey respondents said they experienced chronic stress about money. With some of that financial worry alleviated, participants reported being able to spend more time with their families or in their communities and said they generally enjoyed life more.
For participants with families, many said their extra income went to enrolling their children in after-school and extracurricular activities and supporting their educations.
In Gainesville, Community Spring has run a UBI program that has been life changing for the recipients. The Denver UBI program was recently extended past its initial trial because it was so wildly successful in helping people. In trial after trial, recipients of a universal basic income with no strings attached have spent the money in ways that have made their lives better. UBI programs work. I can say that confidently. They work and they work extremely well in bettering lives and combating poverty.
So why the fuck are we not doing this on a big scale regularly? What more do we have to prove here with the various trials? Just give people money. Don’t put strings attached. Don’t do weird lotteries or even applications. Don’t make it like getting into an Ivy League university. The federal government, and yes it has to be the federal government as it is the only entity with the ability to literally mint money in the US, should just be paying everyone money regularly. And I mean everyone. That’s the only way programs like this don’t get cut. So yes, I know that means paying people who don’t necessarily need it. That’s fine. We let everyone go to public schools. We let everyone use libraries. That’s the point of universal programs. It’s not limited basic income after all. It’s universal.
Do you know who benefits from universal programs? Everyone. Even people who don’t need the programs benefit because helping a large part of the population get out of poverty, helping children have a chance to have a secure life, helping people not have the massive stress that comes with money problems and all the horrible side effects that come with that stress, all of that stuff benefits literally everyone in society in both obvious overt ways and more subtle ways. Helping others helps yourself. Public schools help everyone. An educated populace is crucial to a functioning society. Public libraries help everyone in much the same way. Giving people money, no strings attached, would also help make our society more functional by empowering more people to have control of their lives. Sometimes the solution to problems are obvious. Just give people money.