Member-only story
The study, conducted by the charity Foundations for Social Change in partnership with the University of British Columbia, was fairly simple.
It identified 50 people in the Vancouver area who had become homeless in the past two years. In spring 2018, it gave them each one lump sum of $7,500.
And it told them to do whatever they wanted with the cash.
The results?
The people who received cash transfers moved into stable housing faster and saved enough money to maintain financial security over the year of follow-up.
They decreased spending on drugs, tobacco, and alcohol by 39 percent on average, and increased spending on food, clothes, and rent, according to self-reports.
The study, though small, offers a counter to the myths that people who become poor get that way because they’re bad at rational decision-making and self-control, and are thus intrinsically to blame for their situation and that people getting free money will blow it on frivolous things or addictive substances.
The Basic Income Strategy
In 1974, every resident of Dauphin, Canada was promised a basic income to ensure that no one fell below the poverty line.
