- Beyond necessities, some parents spend basic income on toys and activities for their children.
- Participants say buying some nonessential items improved their family's quality of life.
- Some benefits of GBI can be difficult to measure in quantitative data, experts say.
At the store, Monique Gonzalez's daughters chose matching pairs of Converse high-tops. They were beaming, eager to show their new sneakers to their friends at school.
It had been a long time since Gonzalez, 41, had been able to afford new shoes for her children. The mother-of-six had been struggling to get by — bills were increasingly difficult to cover with her limited household income, which was a few thousand dollars a month between her and her fiancé. Seeing her daughters excitedly bring their Converse boxes up to the cash register was "life-changing," she said.
Gonzalez could afford that purchase because she was a participant in San Antonio's guaranteed basic income program. The pilot gave 1,000 low-income participants an initial $1,908 payment in December 2020, followed by eight quarterly payments of $400 between April 2021 and January 2023. Gonzalez was one of 25 participants chosen to receive an additional $500 a month for 18 months through December 2024.
For Gonzalez's family, the pilot income meant being able to move from a motel to a rental home and more comfortably put food on the table. And, once her necessities were covered, she had a small amount of money left to buy her children something special: crayons and markers, Christmas gifts, and the new shoes. She said it made her feel "worth something."
"It absolutely makes you feel 100% better about yourself — seeing that you can provide for your kids' needs," Gonzalez previously told Business Insider. "But when you can provide for a want every once in a while, it just puts it over the top."
Like San Antonio's program, the overall GBI model offers participants recurring cash payments for a set period of time as an approach to poverty reduction. Participants typically receive between $50 and $2,000 a month, no strings attached, for one to five years. Over 100 pilots have been launched in cities across America, with many specifically focused on families.
Gonzalez's experience echoes that of many other basic income participants: Cash payments not only provide a monthly financial boost but allow some parents to afford toys and activities for their children — small purchases, they say, that have big impacts on their family's quality of life.
Parents say buying their children nonessentials improves quality of life
In contrast to traditional US safety nets like SNAP, housing vouchers, and Medicaid, guaranteed basic income programs place no requirement on how participants spend their money.
"You're deciding what's best for your family, you're the expert on your family," Gonzalez said. "Being able to utilize these funds in a manner that puts you back into control: it boosts your confidence."
The participants BI spoke with predominantly use their payments for essentials. An analysis of 30 pilot programs involving nearly 8,300 participants found more than half of their payments went toward groceries, transportation, housing, utilities, healthcare, and education. The analysis reflects participant transactions made with a bank account or a debit card, which amounted to about 60% of their total spending. The analysis didn't track how the participants spent cash.
While some GBI pilots study changes in participants' happiness and mental health, those findings don't specifically include how the extra things people purchased for themselves or their loved ones made them feel. To analyze quality of life impact, experts often look at individual anecdotes and qualitative findings, instead of just quantitative spending data on bills.
For some of the parents BI spoke with, guaranteed basic income meant affording stable day care and a stroller to go on neighborhood walks. Others told BI they used the cash to buy a new crib and onesies for their newborn.
Melvin Carter, member of the advocacy network Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, said it can be difficult to fully capture the quality of life improvements in a dataset because the benefits differ widely between participants. Still, he said it's clear that cash aid has advantages.
"When parents have money to work with, children are better off," Carter, who is also the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, previously told BI.
Basic income gave some families treats like dinners at restaurants
Jeanette Fisher received $500 a month between summer 2022 and summer 2023 through Chicago's GBI program. She mainly used the money to pay bills and sign a lease on a new apartment for herself and her daughter.
But the 46-year-old single mom said she used some of her first payment to take her daughter, Sophia, to dinner and entertainment at Chuck E. Cheese. They hadn't been since one of Sophia's childhood birthday parties — it meant a lot to Fisher that they could celebrate together. It's a memory they both treasure.
"She's been through a lot," Fisher previously told BI. "And she's an amazing kid."
Single moms in Birmingham, Alabama's Embrace Mothers basic income pilot had a similar experience. Aside from using their $375 a month to pay bills and afford childcare, many of the 110 mothers spent a portion of their money on toys, dance classes, or holiday gifts for their children.
Monica, a Birmingham participant who used only her first name for privacy, spoke to researchers for the program's final report, which was published August 12. She said it's "amazing" when she sees her two-year-old daughter happy.
"At the point when I started receiving the money, I started doing the thing where I give her surprises," Monica told researchers. "So come the 15th, I'd take her to the Dollar Tree. And I teach her numbers, so I'd say: 'Okay, mommy is going to allow you to have five items today. Let's see if you can count five."'
To be sure, guaranteed basic income may not be a foolproof approach to poverty reduction. GBI programs are temporary, and it is not yet clear how cash payments impact participants in the months and years after the programs end. Some economists and politicians have said that GBI is too expensive for cities and philanthropists to finance over time.
Not every family is going to spend guaranteed basic income in the same way, Carter said. But — whether parents are spending cash on meals, new shoes, or something else — he trusts that they are making the best decision for their family's happiness.
"What we're doing is betting on families, betting on families that are used to being bet against," Carter previously told BI. "We're betting on families' ability to know how to manage their money."
Have you benefited from a guaranteed basic income program? Are you open to sharing your story? If so, reach out to this reporter at [email protected].