Seattle gave low-income residents $500 a month no strings attached. Employment rates nearly doubled. - eviltoast
  • A Seattle basic income pilot gave low-income residents $500 a month, nearly doubling employment rates.
  • Some participants reported getting new housing, while others saw their employment incomes rise.
  • Basic income pilots nationwide have seen noteworthy success, despite conservative opposition.
  • ronflex@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    So many people get held down by the system that they feel they can never do any better and settle with a shitty, meager living. Those people on welfare are not living ‘easy’ lives, far from it. If these people had a $500 payment every month it would lessen their financial burden and overall stress level where some of these people might have more mental capacity to think about doing something else with their life. When you live in constant fear of your finances and potentially losing the place you live, your mind tends to shift in another direction of “how can I survive” becuade of how absolutely exhausting that kind of life is. If I were in this situation, knowing I had an extra guaranteed $500 that I can rely on every month might actually ease some of my stress and chill me out enough where I feel like I can devote more time and energy to digging myself out of the hole rather than feeling nothing but despair and falling deeper in.