Guaranteed Income Works: Data from Saint Paul, MN
the People’s Prosperity Pilot (PPP)
In the fall of 2020, and in the midst of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Melvin Carter and the City of Saint Paul launched the People’s Prosperity Pilot (PPP), which was the first-ever Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) pilot and the first mayor-led pilot to use federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), along with state and private philanthropic dollars.
Results of the PPP were studied by the Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers found positive trends in employment, physical and mental health and other indicators of well-being and quality of life.
Key Takeaways
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The number of people employed increased from 49% at the start to 63% six months after the program ended. This trend suggests both a potential resurgence of job opportunities following the pandemic, as well as the potential role of GI in fostering employment-seeking actions. Participants who indicated their primary employment status as a caregiver fluctuated between 15% and 24%, hinting at the potentially shifting roles and responsibilities individuals had to take on during the pandemic. Guaranteed income also made it easier for participants to cover unexpected expenses, and six months after the program stopped, the number of people who could handle an unplanned $400-$500 expense dropped.
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Researchers found a 7 percent increase in participants transitioning to better quality homes during the guaranteed income program. Record levels of inflation led to an increasing trend in food insecurity, but recipients of guaranteed income reported less anxiety about having enough to eat, indicating that the payments helped mitigate this pressure.
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Guaranteed income had a positive impact on both physical and mental health. Recipients showed few symptoms of anxiety or depression (measured on the Kessler scale) and had favorable levels of well-being across the three subscales of general health, physical limits, and physical functioning. When payments stopped there was a decrease in average general health.
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Participants were able to give back to their communities and spend more time with their loved ones. The strong sense of self and ability to strengthen social connections seemed to have an enduring quality, extending beyond the receipt of the cash payments. The percentage of participants reporting feelings of high hope progressively increased throughout the study from 15% at baseline to 21% at the end of the program and 22% six months after the program ended. Additionally, participants’ sense of self improved across multiple survey measures throughout the guaranteed income intervention and continued to trend positively at six months after the PPP had ended.
In sum, findings suggest that on average, the guaranteed income cash transfers served protectively for recipients during the PPP intervention. Together, these findings challenge dominant narratives of poverty and add to a growing body of literature re-imagining the social contract.