A assured fundamental revenue program in Arlington, Virginia that gave low-income residents $500 a month with no strings attached allowed them to search out their footing, search out training, and enhance their job safety, a ultimate report discovered.
The nonprofit Arlington Neighborhood Basis launched this system — referred to as Arlington’s Assure — in 2021 with the Arlington County Division of Human Companies to address wealth disparities within the Washington, DC metro space.
This system supplied 200 low-income households with no strings connected funds of $500 a month for 18 months, based on a report launched by the inspiration after this system led to December.
Researchers discovered that 98% of recipients stated their households have been higher off by the top of this system. Recipients stated lowering their weekend and time beyond regulation hours helped them pursue training and certifications that might result in higher-paying jobs.
One participant stated they used their additional time to acquire an authorized nursing assistant’s license. One other stated they began learning for a pharmacy diploma. And one other stated they give up driving for Uber to open their very own enterprise, the report says.
“With the extra cash I used to be capable of go to highschool,” one recipient stated. “I did not have the stress to work extra. I had flexibility in my price range with a couple of stream of revenue, which opens up extra choices to faucet into.”
Most members stated they spent the additional cash on shopping for groceries, paying payments, shopping for family necessities, and paying hire, based on the report. About 84% of members strongly agreed that this system had helped them regain management of their future.
“Earlier than, if we would have liked one thing, we did not have the cash to go purchase it,” one recipient stated. “Fuel was very costly so we did not go many locations. Now we are able to.”
Most individuals enrolled in this system have been residing in county-provided housing and making 30% or lower than the typical median revenue in Arlington when this system began, based on the report.
By the top, members had elevated employment ranges and better incomes, the report discovered. Recipients have been additionally higher capable of meet their fundamental wants, like meals and transportation.
Nonetheless, the “destabilizing results” of inflation, the expiration of pandemic eviction moratoriums, and the “insurmountable” housing affordability downside in Arlington hampered enhancements in housing safety, the report says.
Recipients remained “severely hire burdened” with most paying greater than 50% of their revenue on hire, based on the report.
Individuals’ monetary stability additionally suffered because of financial stress, and the combination family debt among the many recipients elevated throughout this system’s run, the report discovered.
The Arlington Neighborhood Fund is now working with Virginia lawmakers to develop an expanded little one tax credit score for low-income households, which might be much like federal credits given in the course of the pandemic, based on the doc.
Arlington shouldn’t be the primary metropolis to experiment with a assured fundamental revenue program. Comparable initiatives have popped up nationwide in cities like Baltimore, Boston, Austin, Denver, Minneapolis, and others.
In Austin, a program gave some residents $1,000 a month for one 12 months. Most reported spending the cash on necessities like housing and meals. Some lawmakers in Texas, nonetheless, oppose fundamental revenue applications. One state senator requested the state legal professional common to declare a similar program in the Houston area unconstitutional.
Program researchers say the results of this system in Arlington exhibits that giving individuals no-strings-attached funds offers “crucial bandwidth” to communities which have lengthy been denied entry to wealth by means of systemic racism and punitive insurance policies.
The report notes that whereas the funds fill “crucial gaps,” they cannot substitute extra conventional security nets, particularly in Arlington, the place excessive rents creates an additional barrier.
