Thursday, October 3, 2019
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Food, clothes, utilities: How people are using their cash from the country’s biggest basic income pilot

Stockton, California, has been giving some low-income residents a no-strings-attached check for $500 and tracking their spending and habits. The results: a noticeable improvement in their quality of life. New data released today shows how recipients are using the money, which they started to receive in February. The results undermine common criticisms of cash transfers: that the recipients will spend their money on frivolous items or use the cash to stop working. “What we found is that for the most part, people are using the $500 to meet their basic needs,” says Stacia Martin-West, a researcher from the University of Tennessee. Read More