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A year of $1,330 monthly payments gave three formerly homeless people breathing room for groceries, rent and other expenses, but the longer-term effects of a universal basic income were mixed, according to a New York Times examination. The newspaper followed the recipients for more than a year as they received payments for a full year while transitioning off housing stipends that had covered part of their rent.

The payments brought practical challenges alongside their benefits. All three people were moving away from a housing subsidy, and many participants in the program received other assistance, including food stamps. The Times’ findings aligned with academic research on short-term outcomes, while showing how difficult it can be to turn temporary financial support into lasting change.

“It's a lot to ask of someone to get their life together in 12 months, when a lot of these issues are structural or systemic,” said Jennifer Loving, who runs Destination: Home, a nonprofit that administers basic income programs in Silicon Valley. “And the world around them isn't getting cheaper.”

Experimental guaranteed income programs have expanded across Silicon Valley. In 2022, Google began funding six initiatives as part of a $50 million donation to nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company said basic income could be a new way to prevent homelessness in one of the nation’s most expensive locations.

Each of the six programs has hundreds of participants, who receive about $1,000 a month, while academics study the results. State and federal tax laws limit program durations and payment amounts. Research has found that most basic income programs improve short-term employment and mental health and reduce food insecurity, though less is known about participants’ individual experiences over time.

For one recipient followed by the Times, the money helped make attending community college possible. The person took one class at a time while raising a child alone and also used the payments to support relatives. A recent study of 3,000 universal basic income participants found a 26 per cent increase in money spent supporting friends and family, the largest increase among spending categories. The increases were 6 per cent for food and 11 per cent for child care.

Another recipient used the time and support available at a community college to seek a higher-paying job. A third recipient died during the period covered by the article. His mother used the money he had saved to help pay for his brother to enter a drug rehabilitation program.

The individual outcomes illustrated both the immediate help and the limits of a year of payments. While recipients gained room in their budgets, the results for longer-term free time and opportunity were uneven, against barriers that the program payments could not remove.