Wave of US cities to pilot guaranteed income programmes

Earlier this month as he revealed the preliminary results from the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs said that when he first announced the idea of piloting Guaranteed Income (GI) in 2017, many people “thought we were crazy, that it was a joke".

But the concept of providing direct cash payments to specific, targeted communities of people is beginning to gain traction in light of growing evidence, political shifts and the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Inspired by Stockton and rallied by Tubbs, who went on to found Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) in July 2020, several US cities now plan to launch their own pilot schemes whic...