The first results from a Universal Basic Income (UBI) experiment in Stockton, California are in—and guess what? They’re already disproving one of the most popular arguments levied against UBI, which is that recipients will use the money on frivolous purchases. In Stockton, the early results show most of the 125 people in the program used the $500 they received each month for food, utility bills, and clothing. A new Associated Press story breaks down the spending: recipients spent about 40 percent of the funds on food, 24 percent on sales and merchandise, and 11 percent on utility bills. They spent the remainder on car maintenance, medical expenses, insurance, education, self-care, and even donations. Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs is hopeful the new data will help “win over” skeptics of UBI — and potentially convince lawmakers to take the program nationwide.
Stockton UBI experiment: recipients are spending money only to cover basic needs
More of Today's Solutions
Why the poo taboo has held back a killer disease, and what’s changing
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There is a disease that kills more than one million people a year, nearly half of them children ...
Read MoreRage workouts don’t calm you down, research finds. Here’s what does.
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Slamming tires with a sledgehammer, pummeling a punching bag, running yourself into the ground when you're furious: the ...
Read MoreEating these 5 “sirtfoods” can support healthy aging
We recently published a story about how eating bitter melon can improve longevity. Remaining within the topic of healthy aging, today we bring you ...
Read More4 things that keep Canadian traffic fatalities lower than the US
While traffic-related fatalities increased in the United States by 19 percent between 2010 and 2020, Canadian rates declined by about the same amount in ...
Read More
