A city in California will pay residents $ 500 per month for a year and a half

A total of 80 miles (130 km) east of Silicon Valley, one of the richest regions of the country, is the California city of Stockton.

Фото: Depositphotos

It will soon become the first city in the country to take part in testing the Universal Basic Income (UBI) program - 100 Stockton residents will receive $500 a month for 18 months, without any obligations, writes CNN.

This unconventional wealth distribution system ensures that citizens regularly receive a certain amount of money. The goal is to create an income level in the city, below which none of its inhabitants will fall.

The concept of Universal Basic Income has received the support of some Silicon Valley leaders, including Ilona Mask, Richard Branson and Mark Zuckerberg. It is seen as a way to reduce poverty in the country and protect people from losing their jobs, which automates many processes.

In Stockton, testing of the project is also being funded by Silicon Valley representatives, including Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes's organization, the Economic Security Project, which contributed $1 million to test the basic income idea in Stockton.

With a population of more than 300, 000, where every fourth resident lives in poverty, Stockton is considered an excellent testing ground for Universal Basic Income.

“Stockton is a city that is very similar to the rest of America,” said Natalie Foster, co-founder and co-chair of the Economic Security Project.

The average family income in Stockton is 49 271 dollars per year compared to 57 617 dollars on average. The city is extremely multicultural: more than 70% of the population of the city represent different minorities.

The Universal Basic Income project is actively supported by Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, he is confident that he can protect residents from “the looming threat of automation.”

Residents of the city are actively involved in the fight for 100 places in the test. They send inquiries daily on how to register for the project via e-mail Lori Ospina, director of Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, which manages the project.

The project will begin to operate in Stockton in 2019, the organizers hope after the results of testing to obtain data on the impact of UBI on people's actions. For example, does basic minimum income affect school attendance and health, will it cause people to quit their job or start a new business? Organizers are also interested in how these funds will affect women's empowerment and whether they can help get people out of poverty.

The Stockton experiment is not the first test of the Universal Basic Income idea. Similar programs have already been conducted by various organizations in Finland, Italy, Uganda, Cambodia and India.

In Finland, a monthly payment of €560 was provided to 2000 unemployed people aged 25 to 58. In Cambodia, $5 a month was given to pregnant women and children. Kenya is running a 12-year pilot program sponsored by the nonprofit GiveDirectly.org, and Ontario is running a similar program sponsored by the Canadian government. Another pilot, supported by the Y Combinator business accelerator, is being conducted in Oakland (California) - a thousand city residents are given $1000 a month for 5 years.

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