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Stockton starts giving some residents $500 a month to fight poverty

One hundred Stockton residents started getting monthly payment of $500 on Friday. They’ll receive the extra money for 18 months as part of an experiment testing the impact of universal basic income, also known as UBI.

Two researchers, Dr. Amy Castro Baker, assistant professor at SP2, and Dr. Martin-West, will be studying the Stockton project in real time. Their hope is that the data they collect can be used to increase awareness about UBI’s impact and inform policy around the concept. For example, one of the questions they hope to address is whether UBI helps to ameliorate housing costs.

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