A philanthropically funded guaranteed-income pilot in Stockton, California, that paid about 130 randomly selected residents of lower-income neighbourhoods $500 a month for two years, from February 2019. The peer-reviewed evaluation found lower income volatility and better mental health before the pandemic, and no significant employment effect.
Stockton, an inland Californian city of about 300,000 people, declared bankruptcy in 2012 after the housing crash. In 2016 it elected Michael Tubbs, then 26, as mayor; he made a guaranteed-income pilot a signature project. SEED was launched in February 2019 with philanthropic money, notably from the Economic Security Project, rather than city funds, and with an independent evaluation team led by Stacia West and Amy Castro (Baker).
SEED was a guaranteed income, not a universal basic income: it went to a selected group, for a limited period, without conditions on use or work. Its aim was to test effects on financial stability, health and agency — and to change the national conversation.
The payments came from private donors and philanthropic organisations; the evaluation was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Evidence for Action programme and the Economic Security Project. The money's use was tracked in aggregate and through interviews: recipients spent mainly on bills and basic needs, shared resources with relatives and neighbours, and covered costs such as childcare, transport and training that enabled job changes.
The peer-reviewed results in the Journal of Urban Health report that in the first year month-to-month income volatility was lower for recipients (19% versus 26%); recipients had lower psychological distress and better scores on several physical and emotional health measures before the pandemic; and they were more able to cover an unexpected $400 expense. During the pandemic most differences disappeared, and no significant effects were found on a financial well-being scale or on employment. Interviews describe reduced anxiety, more capacity to take risks and less reliance on contingent work.
SEED's larger legacy was political. In June 2020 Tubbs founded Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, and dozens of US cities and counties launched pilots modelled on Stockton, several funded by public pandemic-recovery money.
About 130 recipients got $500 a month from February 2019 to January 2021. Peer-reviewed results: lower income volatility in year one (19% vs 26%), lower distress and better health before the pandemic, no significant effects on financial well-being or employment.
A time-limited philanthropic pilot that ended with its last payments in early 2021. It was not continued after the mayor who championed it lost re-election, but it inspired a national network of city guaranteed-income pilots.
SEED paid $500 a month for 24 months, from February 2019 to January 2021, to randomly selected residents of Stockton census tracts at or below the city's median household income of $46,033; 131 were enrolled in treatment and 200 in control.[1]
Before the pandemic, recipients had lower income volatility (19% versus 26% in year one), lower psychological distress and better scores on several health measures; most differences disappeared during the pandemic, and no significant effects were found on financial well-being or employment.[1]