Skip to content
CityLab
+ Equality

The Year Basic Income Programs Went Mainstream

Local guaranteed income pilots have given more than 5,400 U.S. families direct cash payments since 2018, as momentum has grown for UBI-style programs.

Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, greets constituent Quiana Gomez after announcing the city's new guaranteed basic income pilot program. Such programs have grown in popularity during the pandemic. 

Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, greets constituent Quiana Gomez after announcing the city's new guaranteed basic income pilot program. Such programs have grown in popularity during the pandemic. 

Photographer: Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times
By

At least 20 guaranteed income pilots have launched in cities and counties across the U.S. since 2018, and more than 5,400 families and individuals have started receiving between $300 and $1,000 a month, according to a Bloomberg CityLab analysis. If all these programs complete their pilot periods as planned, they’ll have given out at least $35 million.

These figures mark the close of a year of rapid growth for U.S. programs that give some residents direct cash payments, with a half-dozen other pilots promised to launch in cities next year. For many advocates, the concept of “basic income” has evolved from the more expansive UBI — a universal basic income to all residents — to more targeted guaranteed income programs that have the goal of narrowing inequality and dismantling poverty.