Victoria Bowden , Research Associate
Urvi Patel, Policy Analyst and Intern Coordinator
Everyone should have an affordable place to live.
In the face of the persistent housing affordability crisis, rising eviction rates in many parts of the country, and ongoing threats against unhoused communities, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, some states and localities — often working with philanthropic partners — are taking innovative approaches to provide unconditional cash to people experiencing housing instability or homelessness through guaranteed income pilot programs.
It’s more important than ever that state and local leaders choose strategies that help people with low incomes meet their housing needs with dignity, rather than punishing people experiencing homelessness through fining and, in some cases, arresting and incarcerating them for sleeping outside when they have nowhere safe to go, which evidence shows are ineffective, costly, and racially discriminatory strategies.
Guaranteed income (GI) is emerging as one strategy for helping people afford housing and other expenses like food, clothing, and transportation. Unlike universal basic income, which proposes giving a standard periodic cash payment to all individuals, guaranteed income provides cash assistance to people based on a determined need — such as experiencing housing instability or having income below a certain level — with assistance typically ranging between $500 and $1000 a month. Over 150 programs across the country have begun providing direct cash assistance, with several localities and states having one or more programs that prioritize people and families who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness. Promising findings from individual pilot programs support broader research demonstrating that GI programs can be a mechanism for helping people meet their needs. Ongoing research is helping us understand the ways that unrestricted cash supports can be designed to be most beneficial to the people who need them, including those experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness.
Today’s wave of the guaranteed income movement isn’t new. In the 1960s and 70s, leaders within the National Welfare Rights Organization, racial justice advocates in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and feminist thought leaders within the Wages for Housework Movement began advancing GI in response to historical inequities rooted in enslavement, discrimination, and exclusionary policy choices. While GI initiatives alone don’t address the root causes of these inequities, they provide more possibilities for repairing harms caused by deep-seated prejudice in our institutions.
GI is a compelling step forward as policymakers look for innovative ways to:
- ensure that people can make decisions about how to best meet their needs;
- improve accessibility and reduce administrative burdens in existing economic security programs;
- reduce the discrimination people can face when they participate in assistance programs, which is often rooted in racism and stigma against people with low incomes; and
- guarantee that everyone who needs assistance receives it.
The rise of GI programs responds to the reality that many people don’t have enough money, even with work or public benefits, to afford basic needs due to reasons not entirely within their control. For example, systemic and structural racism embedded in the housing market and criminal legal system result in people of color, particularly Black, Indigenous, and Latine communities, being disproportionately harmed by a cycle of homelessness and incarceration. The same is true for the labor market, in which people of color are overrepresented in jobs with the lowest pay because of racism in hiring practices and frequent government underinvestment in communities of color — which leads to low-performing schools, chronic health conditions, and other negative outcomes that hurt employment opportunities. The impacts of low pay are also felt disproportionately by other communities that face discrimination, such as people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ people.
A Sample of Guaranteed Income Programs Prioritizing People Experiencing or At Risk of Homelessness in the United States Copy link
Hover over blue states for a list of programs Copy link
(embedded graphic on the page; click on the “Copy link”s to see. There are quite a few.)
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | cbpp.org
Several GI pilots were implemented in 2024. In California, a five-year pilot called It All Adds Up provides 225 families that recently experienced homelessness and are exiting rapid re-housing programs with $1,000 a month for one year. In Massachusetts, through the Somerville GI Pilot, 200 families that are struggling with high housing costs receive $750 a month for a year. And a New York City program supports 100 families that are living in shelters through monthly cash payments of $1,400 for two years to help them meet their needs.
Federal and state policymakers can take the lessons of GI pilot programs and apply them to other economic security policies. For example, reforming cash assistance programs like TANF and SSI to be more accessible and provide higher benefit levels would go a long way in helping older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income families with children meet their needs. Similarly, expanding access to tenant-based rental assistance, which rigorous research has shown can greatly reduce homelessness and housing insecurity, and testing new ways to deliver it — like through direct rental assistance, which is provided directly to tenants instead of landlords — can make it easier for families to find a place to live.
Expanding cash income supports, increasing access to rental assistance, and making these kinds of assistance simpler to access through processes that respect people’s dignity are the right path forward to improve well-being, promote racial equity, and help people stay stably housed.
Scottie's Playtime 
Hi everyone. Do you realize what this really is? It is another taxpayer subsidy to the corporation employers who don’t pay a living wage and the large hedge funds that are buying up all the housing jacking up the rents beyond the reach of the people to pay.
Yes I am glad to see people getting help, I want them to have housing and food security. I just hate the public needs to fund big business because employers won’t pay living wages and big money housing companies rake untold profits while doing no repairs. Instead I would love the government to reform the system to fix the real problem causing homelessness. Hugs
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No. This is a basic income guaranteed to people. For the numerous reasons that guaranteed universal income is the actual thing for the US to do as to subsidies (as proven in countries who do it, and in regions here who do it,) rent can be among those reasons. If a person’s working a low-paying job but they like the work, they can still live in a livable, affordable place because they have their basic income, and their pay. Guaranteed universal basic income makes it easier for an abused party to leave the abuser. Universal basic income makes it easier for a person to leave a job that is toxic without having to worry about finding another job first. A person could even afford to move away and start over, because they have their basic income.
This isn’t about subsidizing corporations, it’s the opposite. It’s about paying everyone who’s born a basic income because they’re born. It would be a stipend, but a person could live on it month to month.
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Hi Ali. Read the article again please. From the article: It’s more important than ever that state and local leaders choose strategies that help people with low incomes meet their housing needs with dignity, rather than punishing people experiencing homelessness through fining and, in some cases, arresting and incarcerating them for sleeping outside when they have nowhere safe to go, which evidence shows are ineffective, costly, and racially discriminatory strategies.
Why do these people have low incomes? Because the employers don’t pay living wages! Where is the money going to? Housing companies that charge far too much for rent and buy up all homes for sale in the area! But there is more in the article.
From the article: Guaranteed income (GI) is emerging as one strategy for helping people afford housing and other expenses like food, clothing, and transportation. Unlike universal basic income, which proposes giving a standard periodic cash payment to all individuals, guaranteed income provides cash assistance to people based on a determined need — such as experiencing housing instability or having income below a certain level — with assistance typically ranging between $500 and $1000 a month.
Based on need! I stand by my comment!
It’s about paying everyone who’s born a basic income because they’re born. It would be a stipend, but a person could live on it month to month.
What you are talking about it UBI. I support UBI just like you do. But the article makes clear this is not Universal Basic Income which will do all you said. But even with the bad things I mentioned if people need assistance to get housing and food that help should be there. But accompanying that is the need to force employers to pay more and to have affordable housing not owned by big business that requires huge rents to make the most profit. Hugs
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I caught this on the other one.
The only reason I posted this is: if more localities that can afford to do so, (I can’t say yours can or can’t, but you’ll know if they would. Mine cannot because everything’s been cut to within an inch of its life.) Anyway, if more localities can afford to do so, more people would understand how it really works. And, if I didn’t parenthetize commentary in the middle of a simple sentence, I’d be better understood, too! I’m sorry! 🙃
It isn’t subsidizing business, it’s what people deserve because they exist. It is unconditional, and gives people options. It goes to people. Maybe they’ll pay rent, maybe they’ll get a car and move away. Maybe they’ll take some time to find a better place with a better landlord and better opportunities. Maybe they’ll bury it in their sleeping bag, and keep on trucking. It’s not a subsidy.
So then, the more states do this, the more people will see results in the article all over including right downtown, which will help pave the way for UBI. I doubt I’ll see UBI in my lifetime, but I was surprised to see guaranteed income in the US states that have it.
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