By Aman Jain. Originally published at ValueWalk.
The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the importance of a guaranteed monthly income, and since then, several states and counties have come up with pilot programs giving guaranteed monthly stimulus checks to some residents. Los Angeles has also come up with a similar program and is now accepting applications for the same.
Guaranteed Monthly Stimulus Checks: Who Will Get Them?
Los Angeles County’s new guaranteed income program, called “Breathe: LA County’s Guaranteed Income Program,” will offer $1,000 monthly checks to 1,000 randomly selected residents for three years.
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To qualify for the guaranteed monthly stimulus checks, residents need to be at least 18 years old. Also, the household income of the eligible individuals must be less than $56,000 (or $96,000 for a family of four). The participant should live in an LA County neighborhood where the median household income is not more than the county’s average income.
Moreover, the qualifying residents must have experienced negative impacts because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, qualifying residents must not be enrolled in any other Guaranteed Income Program.
Selected people will get the money through a debit card, and people are free to spend the money on anything they want. Applicants don’t need to have a bank account to participate in the program. As of now, it is unclear if the unused money of any month would carry over to the next month.
How To Apply
Los Angeles County Board started accepting applications for the program last week. The board of supervisors approved the program in May 2021.
The program will be managed by the L.A. County Poverty Alleviation Initiative, while a research team from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research will select the applicants randomly. Also, the research team would assess the long-term impacts of the guaranteed monthly stimulus checks on the economic wellbeing of the participants.
According to LA County, the program specifically wants to measure factors like “physical health, mental health, income volatility, housing stability, spending, consumption, employment, education, family dynamics and parenting, stress and coping, hope and mattering, household food security, and COVID-19 variables.”
For more information on the program and to apply, visit this link. You can also call 213-342-1003 to get more details about the program, as well as to apply. The last date to apply for the program is April 13.
California has come up with several similar programs in the last year or so, including LA county’s BIG:LEAP. The program launched last year and offers $1,000 in cash to 3,200 households. Compton and Long Beach have also come up with similar programs.
Not only California, but many other states are also experimenting with universal basic income programs. In October, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a $31 million universal basic income pilot program that would offer $500 a month to low income families. New York City also has a similar program giving $1,250 to as many as 40 homeless people.
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