
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
Giving Compass' Take:
• Fox News reports a new proposal in Chicago to give $1,000 per month to citizens and struggling families in need.
• A 2017 Pew Research Center study found that 60 percent of Americans favor the government providing a guaranteed income that would allow them to meet their basic needs. What are the main controversies behind this?
• Learn about the universal basic income trials going on around the world.
Would a universal basic income help to alleviate poverty in Chicago?
Some residents may be about to find out. A new proposal unveiled by a mayoral task force late last week would provide 1,000 struggling Chicagoans with $1,000 per month — no strings attached.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the pilot program, which would cost up to $12 million per year and be funded by the city and philanthropic contributions, was recommended as a way to help individuals and families, along with senior citizens, who have a hard time making ends meet.
“Guaranteed income can have powerful effects: significant reductions in poverty; ability to cover an unexpected emergency; improve school attendance; an increase in savings and improvements to health and well-being," the report states, according to the Sun-Times. "These are goals that every Chicagoan can get behind.”
Read the full article about a universal basic income in Chicago by Christopher Carbone at Fox News