The Madison Forward Fund provided a monthly cash payment of $500 for one year to 155 households in Madison and found numerous benefits to people experiencing poverty.
Recipients were randomly selected from qualified applicants, all 18 and older, in a household where income was less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Line, and with one child under 18 living at home.
Researchers evaluated the money’s effect on financial resilience, health and well-being and workforce participation.
By six months, the percentage of recipients who could handle a $400 emergency expense increased from 7% to 16%. At 12 and 18 months, the figure was 18%.
Those who received the monthly payments also demonstrated higher full-time employment rates, rising from 29% to 40% at 18 months. People were also more likely to look for work if unemployed and made healthier decisions with food choices and scheduling doctor appointments.
The program, funded entirely by private donors and philanthropic organizations, was a partnership between the city of Madison, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, TASC, Give Back Foundation, the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
The full report can be found at Guaranteed Income Works.
