USA Today

California city gives residents $500 a month. Is this the future of progressive politics?

Eight years ago, this central California agricultural town known for producing almonds and grapes became the nation’s largest municipality to enter bankruptcy. Now, Stockton is in the news for a project that seeks to lift up low-income residents with a UBI, an oft-resurrected economic idea thrust into the national limelight by the recently shuttered presidential campaign of Andrew Yang.

Supporters are resolute that a financial assist to those living at the poverty line allows recipients to gain control of their financial lives, improves their mental and physical health, and gets them focused on investing in their own futures.

“Overall, the results of a UBI are quite encouraging,” says Ioana Marinescu, assistant professor of public policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice and the author of 2017’s “No Strings Attached: The Behavioral Effects of U.S. Unconditional Cash Transfer Programs.”

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