Andrew Yang's free $1,000-per-month welfare scheme was tried in Mississippi; the results were not a

[TomSea]

Andrew Yang's free $1,000-per-month welfare scheme was tried in Mississippi; the results were not a surprise
by Eddie Scarry  | September 03, 2019 12:37 PM

Andrew Yang’s promise to give every American $1,000 per month if he were elected president is only a geeky gimmick. But if you’re curious about how more welfare just like that would end, the Washington Post has a mostly fantastic story explaining it all.

The paper last week reported on a Mississippi-based nonprofit that gave away $1,000 per month, no strings attached, to 20 low-income black single mothers living in public housing.

Initial results of the experiment were on display at a meeting held after one month of payments:
Some of the women talked about their gift-filled Christmases and sported new hairstyles. Some said they took a sick day for the first time. They began paying off overdue electricity bills and high-interest loans. Kira Johnson, a social worker, asked how much money the women had saved. “I blew all of it,” Gray recalled. “It only took a weekend.” Most of the women said the same thing. In a month, nearly all of the money had vanished.


More at: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/andrew-yangs-free-1-000-per-month-welfare-scheme-was-tried-in-mississippi-the-results-were-not-a-surprise

Is he in the next debate? He doesn't seem to be making waves too much either.

[OfTheCross]

Is he in the next debate? He doesn't seem to be making waves too much either.

I don't think he qualified for the next debate. I could be wrong. I saw that he was at the CNN Climate Change Town Hall tonight, though.

On a side note, the article that this op-ed is based on is quite interesting...some excerpts:

But the money came with a natural consequence for families using the social safety net. More income triggered decreases in government help. She lost the $150 she received each month for food stamps. Because her rent was linked to her income, her monthly housing payment rose from $300 to $757.

...

The 20 women selected for the experiment in November 2018 earned an average of $12,000 a year at the time. Fifteen of the women were working. Twelve had reported being so short on cash that they had used an emergency lender in the preceding six months.

...

At the end of six months, none of the women reported using an emergency lender. Nearly all said they had enough money to buy school supplies, when fewer than half had said that before. They reported cooking more balanced meals, visiting the doctor and attending church more often.

...

Many women who were employed found better jobs. But, despite Yang’s prediction, the number of women who were in the workforce did not change. Similar results were reported from a guaranteed-income study that took place in Finland.

...

Eyitayo Onifade, who is the director of the Center for Children and Families at Clark Atlanta University who is evaluating the Jackson program, said wages were so low in the city that there was not much incentive to choose employment, particularly for single mothers.

“The women attached to the workforce were not making much more money than the women who were not attached to the workforce,” Onifade said. “So some make the choice that they’d rather spend time raising their children.”

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