Advocacy group says Baltimore's "guaranteed-income" program is helping families

A "guaranteed-income" advocacy group just released a report praising Baltimore City's $1,000-a-month cash giveaway to young parents .

The city's program was launched two years ago, and uses $4.8 million of COVID-related federal funds . Two hundred households were chosen for the Guaranteed Income pilot - and, according to Mayors & Counties for a Guaranteed Income, they were doing better after one year than control-group families.

The new report says the participating families "increased income, helped participants transition into more independent living situations, and improved mental and emotional health," which demonstrates "early potential for GI as an intervention to improve the overall well-being of young families."

The requirements for the program did have much higher income guidelines than the federal poverty level . Parents were required to be Baltimore City residents, ages 18 to 24, with a maximum household income of 300 percent of the federal poverty level - which would be as high as about $83,000 for a family of four.

(Nevertheless, the report says participants "remained economically vulnerable" and had an average household income of $26,926, which is only about $2,000 above the 2023 federal poverty level for a family of three; the average household size was three people, and 80 percent reported recent food insecurity).

Also, about 17 percent of the participants surveyed in the new report did not actually get a guaranteed income, because they couldn't be contacted, declined it, or proved to be ineligible. The group says including those participants in the study is "standard practice in randomized experiemnts," which is called "an intent-to-treat research design" experiment.

(Mayors for a Guaranteed Income referred WMAR to its plan for analyzing guaranteed-income programs by using the intent-to-treat design .)

Mayor Brandon Scott said the new results show "how meaningful this support has been for these families," and guaranteed income "has empowered those in this pilot program to secure more independent living situations, double their household incomes, and invest in their futures through college and trade school opportunities."

A spokesperson for Mayors for a Guaranteed income said:

It's important to look at results holistically, since the point of cash is flexibility and freedom. People are able to make choices that are best given the unique circumstances in their life, versus a "one size fits all" approach. Some might need to make changes in housing for the safety and health of their family, some might want to go back to school to increase their job options, some might prioritize spending on things that benefit their children, and so on. If you'd like to compare these results to that of other cities, we have several studies linked on our website.

No other, more independent study has been announced for the program. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health did contribute to the research.

A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that analyzes government policies recently praised the city's program as an excellent use of COVID-related (American Rescue Plan Act) funds .