Guaranteed income during 18 months will provide financial security to low-income and minority families in Oakland
Photo: Aurelia Ventura / Impremedia / Real America News
Low-income minority families in Oakland, California, could receive additional financial assistance for the next year and a half.
The Mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, announced this week the city will launch a guaranteed income project to give hundreds of minority families $ 500 dollars per month, during 18 months, reported CNN .
Project payments will be unconditional and beneficiaries can spend the money as they wish.
The program Oakland Resilient Families is the latest test of a wealth distribution system of “guaranteed income ados ”, where residents receive a fixed amount of money per month, to complement the existing social safety net.
The project targets the groups with the greatest disparities of wealth of the city, according to the Oakland Equality Index, which reveals that the median income of white households in Oakland is almost three times that of black households.
“The poverty that we all witness today is not a personal fault, it is a fault of the systems, ”Schaaf said in a statement . “The guaranteed income is one of the most promising tools for systems change, racial equity and economic mobility that we have seen in decades.”
Poverty is not a personal failure, it’s a policy failure. Today in Oakland we launched a guaranteed income pilot for 600 low-income BIPOC families to receive $ 500 a month for 18 months, not strings. We want to change the narrative. pic.twitter.com/78 fDjUj4G1
– Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf) March 18, 2020
The outreach starts now and we expect for checks to reach families in spring + summer. We’re grateful for partners @ FIInational @ mayorsforagi @ lorenmtaylor @ OaklandThrives . Learn more 👇 https://t.co/IzmVSL8Ie9
– Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf) March 23, 2021
Guaranteed income provides security to those who need it most
Guaranteed income is different from Universal Basic Income (UBI), which would provide sufficient income to meet everyone’s basic needs.
On the other hand, the guaranteed income is only intended to complement other salaries and programs for low-income residents, helping to build the “income floor” where people living in poverty they can begin to build a financially secure life.
Other cities have implemented it
In 2019, residents of Stockton, California, began receiving unconditional payments of $ 500 dollars. Other initiatives in Newark, NJ and Atlanta, Georgia launched in 2020.
Former Stockton Mayor, Michael Tubbs, is the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a network of mayors founded in 2020. Oakland Mayor Schaaf is also a founding member of the network.
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