Guaranteed Income Works: Data from Stockton, CA
Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED)
The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) is the nation’s first mayor-led guaranteed income demonstration. Announced in October 2017, by former Mayor Michael D. Tubbs, SEED gave 125 randomly selected residents $500/month for 24 months. The cash was completely unconditional, with no strings attached and no work requirements.
Aiming to test a simple yet innovative solution to poverty and inequality, SEED’s preliminary findings show how just $500 a month can provide the dignity and agency that everyone deserves.
Key Takeaways
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Guaranteed income recipients leveraged the $500 to find full-time employment. In February 2019, 28% of recipients had full-time employment. One year later, 40% of recipients were employed full-time.
Guaranteed income enabled shifts in employment by giving recipients the emotional and financial capacity for risk taking.
Cash enabled recipients who perform carework, primarily women and women of color, to receive compensation for what is typically unpaid or underpaid in the formal economy.
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Recipients of the $500 experienced less income volatility than those who did not receive the guaranteed income, permitting households to stabilize and plan for the future. The guaranteed income enabled recipients to make payments on their debt. One year into the program, recipients had more liquidity to pay for unexpected expenses and this liquidity was pooled across fragile family networks, alleviating strain from unpaid care work, food insecurity, and underemployment.
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Recipients saw statistically significant improvements in emotional health, energy over fatigue, and emotional wellbeing. They were less anxious and depressed, both over time and compared to the control group. Women who spent years prioritizing the needs of others over their own wellbeing were able to focus on their health and subsidize gaps in family health care.
Decreases in anxiety, depression, and extreme financial strain increase capacity for goal-setting and coping with unexpected income shocks.
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The alleviation of constant financial strain generated increased bandwidth for goal-setting and risk-taking, both of which were previously limited by scarcity. Shifts in employment patterns were tied to removing material barriers to full-time employment and removing time and capacity limits created by scarcity and precarity. Simply put, when every dollar of wage work is allocated for bills before it is earned, most cannot afford to skip work or take necessary steps toward better employment structurally trapping them regardless of individual effort. Guaranteed income reduced stress over survival and made it possible for participants to reach for opportunities.
SEED was born out of the simple belief that the best investments we can make are in our people. A hand up, rather than a hand out, SEED empowered recipients financially and emotionally. It proves to supporters and skeptics alike that poverty results from a lack of cash, not character. SEED open-sourced its playbook, and paved the way for more than 60+ other mayor-led pilots across the country.