this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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Austin experimented with giving people $1,000 a month. They spent the no-strings-attached cash mostly on housing, a study found (www.businessinsider.com)
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
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  • A guaranteed-basic-income program in Austin gave people $1,000 a month for a year.
  • Most of the participants spent the no-strings-attached cash on housing, a study found.
  • Participants who said they could afford a balanced meal also increased by 17%.

A guaranteed-basic-income plan in one of Texas' largest cities reduced rates of housing insecurity. But some Texas lawmakers are not happy.

Austin was the first city in Texas to launch a tax-payer-funded guaranteed-income program when the Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot kicked off in May 2022. The program served 135 low-income families, each receiving $1,000 monthly. Funding for 85 families came from the City of Austin, while philanthropic donations funded the other 50.

The program was billed as a means to boost people out of poverty and help them afford housing. "We know that if we trust people to make the right decisions for themselves and their families, it leads to better outcomes," the city says on its website. "It leads to better jobs, increased savings, food security, housing security."

While the program ended in August 2023, a new study from the Urban Institute, a Washington, DC, think tank, found that the city's program did, in fact, help its participants pay for housing and food. On average, program participants reported spending more than half of the cash they received on housing, the report said.

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[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Economists would probably just point out the fact that whenever you subsidize something the thing you're trying to make easier is suddenly even more expensive to the point where there's hardly a discount if one even exists.

That's a very convenient "fact" to point out if you want to eliminate all assistance for people who are struggling.

Now explain how corn subsidies had no effect on corn prices and definitely didn't result in everything being full of corn syrup.

Next explain how basic income is a subsidy.

[–] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

It's not and he's wrong. UBI will definitely cause some inflation when people spend the money, but the money will come from somewhere (probably wealthier people or corporations). So that taxation will reduce inflation at the same time.

If the money came from a tax on rental income, it would not hurt renters. It would probably just be a circle: where owners are taxed and the money goes to renters, who then spend it on rent. It may help people buy houses because they now have free money regardless of whether they spend it on rent.

[–] just_change_it@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

That’s a very convenient “fact” to point out if you want to eliminate all assistance for people who are struggling.

I NEVER mentioned this. I in NO WAY advocate for removing assistance for people. I 100% believe we need to look at the effects of something and tweak it to avoid people taking advantage of the system. The poors aren't taking advantage of it, the ownership class IS. They ALWAYS do. and we cannot stand for that any longer.

I would rather fully rework the landlord slave-ownership system we have today and make it so all payments into housing give you a share of ownership. Same deal with work - you work for a company and you get a share of ownership. 30 years of rent and you own your apartment. Live there for 5 years? You now own 1/6th of the apartment. One year? 1/30th. Let's really FUCK the "investment property" wealth.

Make it so whoever works at a business shares ownership equally based on hours worked there. Make it so no human can get more than 80 hours of ownership shares a week, or something like that. There is obviously a lot more thought involved in having a system like this where people are no longer just "workers" but partial owners **