Pilot programs underway in roughly 200 cities in the U.S. are experimenting with the idea of guaranteed income – giving hundreds of dollars a month to poor families with no strings attached. Shreveport was among the cities taking part. As Stephan Bisaha with the Gulf States Newsroom reports, the program achieved mixed results.
More than 100 people in Shreveport received $660 every month for a year. Then the program ended early last year. A new report found parents felt they could better care for their children – from paying for sports, clothing and working fewer hours to spend more time with their kids. But six months after the pilot program ended the parents felt worse about achieving their goals – and the financial benefits faded.
Shreveport Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor says if the city were to do another program, she’d like the payments to last longer and be paired with job training to avoid the gains disappearing. “I would like to incorporate some type of workforce development skills (internal edit) so they would be able to sustain this particular lifestyle.”
Guaranteed income pilots in Birmingham and New Orleans had similar results – benefits during the program that mostly disappeared after the payments stopped.
Mixed Results From Guaranteed Income Program in Shreveport
