- A guaranteed-basic-income program in Austin gave people $1,000 a month for a year.
- Most of the participants spent the no-strings-attached cash on housing, a study found.
- Participants who said they could afford a balanced meal also increased by 17%.
A guaranteed-basic-income plan in one of Texas’ largest cities reduced rates of housing insecurity. But some Texas lawmakers are not happy.
Austin was the first city in Texas to launch a tax-payer-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.”
While the program ended in August 2023, a new study from the Urban Institute, a Washington, DC, think tank, found that the city’s program did, in fact, help its participants pay for housing and food. On average, program participants reported spending more than half of the cash they received on housing, the report said.
Do food stamps subsidize grocery stores?
Yes. That’s why their are restrictions and why Coke threw a fucking fit when soda was added to the exclude list.
urrrgh, this grits my teeth. Without food stamps people STARVE. This “it subsidizes grocery stores” is exactly one of the narratives used to take this subsidy away from poor people.
“But people will adapt” bullshit look at every country that doesn’t have welfare… they’re all third world/below third world countries. All of them.
Who are you arguing with?
The point I was trying to make is that “subsidizing” isn’t a four letter word
I’m confused. What does that have to do with anything? What point is that?
Just because it tehnically is subsidizing grocery stores doesn’t mean it’s not a good thing?
Yeah the stores get more money but that’s because people who previously werent able to afford to eat now can. It’s not just money tossed at the stores for nothing