In California, they hand out 500 dollars per month to residents

Denang and Vargas live in Stockton, California, a city with a high level of poverty on the outskirts of the Gulf, where there is a technological boom. They are also participating in the urban innovation project for Stockton's economic improvement, the SEED program, where 130 people get 500 dollars a month, for 18 months, writes The Atlantic.

Фото: Depositphotos

Supporters of the project argue that their subjects would be good resource managers. They will use the money to improve their lives, save paid bills and plan for the future, thanks to this Stockton will receive a small economic incentive.

SEED is the brainchild of Stockton Mayor Michael D. Tubbs and the Economic Security Project, a think tank and advocacy group that studies and promotes remittances in the United States. To get into the pilot project, it was necessary to meet certain criteria. PThe beneficiaries were supposed to be adults living in the Stockton area, where the average income was at or below the city average 46 463 dollars per year.

SEED sent letters to a randomly selected group of households that meet these criteria, and then registered a randomly selected group of individuals who responded to the letters. In February, participants began receiving 500 dollars per month on a debit card. They were allowed to use the money at their discretion.

One of the participants of the program, Denang, was shocked by the fact that money fell from the sky.

“I continue to limit myself in everything,” she said at the SEED office in Stockton. “The money couldn’t have come at a better time.” A native of the Northern Mariana Islands, she worked as a certified nursing assistant before health issues prompted her to retire and focus on her volunteer work at a local community center. As of last year, her husband worked in seafood processing in Alaska. Wages were only $9 or $10 an hour.

One day her husband had a stroke. Now he suffers from paralysis and problems with speech and mobility.

Since this is the United States, family emergency services quickly became an economic emergency. Denang and her husband had no income. Prior to SEED, they earned 244 dollars per month on state disability benefits and 850 dollars per month on federal disability payments, which meant they fell below the poverty line.

“It's a blessing,” Denang said of SEED, saying the extra $500 a month helped them pay bills and gave them time to enroll their husband in the Social Security disability program and allow her to gain custody of him.

For Vargas, the money was less an insurance policy and more an investment. A father and husband who works as a manager for a logistics company, Vargas said he planned to invest in investments and provide passive income for the family. He said the money allowed him to give up some of the extra jobs he took on to pay his family's bills. “We have more family time. Now I read bedtime stories and find out what the children did at school. And that's really important,” he says.

Both Vargas and Denang emphasize that they are very careful about using the fund's money. Both have developed plans for the development of this money, and both think what they will do when payments stop. Both stressed that they are spent only on necessities or investments.

SEED wants to demonstrate that it’s more humane to give people money, and not to invent sophisticated voucher and food stamp systems and other tax benefits.

The concept (often called a guaranteed income, unconditional cash transfer or universal basic income) may seem far-fetched. SEED is one of several UBI-type pilots operating in the United States and around the world. And many Democrats insist on the need for big money policies.

Many government programs restrict people from using funds, for example, prohibiting families from buying “luxury goods,” such as steaks or lobsters. However, studies show that direct remittances do not lead families to consume more “luxury” goods, such as cigarettes and alcohol. In some cases, remittance programs allow families to make investments that improve their income in the future. In other words, when people get cash, they act like Vargas and Denang. It may be worthwhile to trust people to dispose of finances at their own discretion, without restricting them in the use of the assistance offered.

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