Stimulus checks may have dried up at the federal level, but ambitious basic income projects underway now in at least 17 states aim to, if nothing else, at least fill the gap for people most in need. People like low-income mothers in such New York City neighborhoods as Washington Heights and Harlem, where they’ve started getting money through the city’s first basic income program.
In July, 100 such mothers started getting up to $1,000 a month, thanks to the $16 million Bridge Project. It was launched by a venture capitalist and his wife, according to The New York Times. The purpose: “To measure the effect of regular, unconditional stipends” on low-income recipients. And, importantly, that launch came roughly in tandem with the rollout of monthly child tax credit checks in the US.
The New Stimulus Check Guarantees Basic Income
There would ultimately be six of those monthly stimulus checks. Unfortunately, there’s not enough support in Congress to do so.
Meanwhile, this basic income experiment is expanding. In April, for example, the program is adding several hundred expecting mothers in more New York City neighborhoods, including the South Bronx and East Harlem.
There are a few different cohorts participating in the program, and whose outcomes are being tracked. In one group of families, half are getting $500 per month for three years. The other half is $1,000 per month. In the second group of families, participants are getting $1,000/month for 18 months, then $500 for another 18 months. Finally, a “control” group of families gets no money.
