The financial upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for millions of Americans is spurring a rise in a form of charitable giving that has proved highly effective in helping people navigate calamity: Giving them money with no strings attached.
So-called guaranteed income programs have launched in 40 cities across the U.S. under which individuals and families living near the poverty threshold receive monthly stipends that they can spend however they want.
“The pandemic really showed people the existing economic arrangement was just not enough,” said Michael Tubbs, formerly the mayor of Stockton, California, and founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. “With folks not being able to get to work because their businesses were shut down, it showed a guaranteed income is a form of economic resilience and a smart pandemic response.”