In 2021, Darrick Hamilton and colleagues issued a major paper, A Guaranteed Income for the 21st Century, defining a cash transfer program through tax reform designed to end poverty in the United States. The paper is underpinned by a framework of Inclusive Economic Rights, a set of theories on fundamental human rights which argues that all people should be provided with a publicly guaranteed baseline set of goods and services that allow for self-determination, autonomy, health, well-being, and economic agency. The framework stresses that these resources should be provided through policies, practices, structures, and strategies that are comprehensively and purposefully inclusive in design and implementation.
Building upon previous work that examines and documents the enabling health, economic, and overall well-being enhancing aspects associated with better-resourced people and families, this project will answer the following:
What are we learning about designing and achieving a scalable guaranteed income policy from the proliferation of local guaranteed income pilot projects and their evaluations?
What are the impacts of cash transfer programs on the health, economic well-being, and political participation of families, and how do these impacts vary by race and ethnicity, gender, and other demographics?
How do deeply embedded narratives about race, poverty, and deservedness shape the politics of guaranteed income, and how can they be shifted to enable a durable nationwide policy?
The project aims to provide research that can be used by practitioners and researchers alike to understand, discuss, formulate, adjust, evaluate, communicate about, and scale cash transfer and guaranteed income programs and promote transformational progress toward economic inclusion, social equity, and civic engagement.
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Related Evidence
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Published June 1, 2025View Evidence
This report explores public banking as a critical tool for advancing a rights-based economy grounded in racial justice, Indigenous sovereignty, and environmental sustainability. The authors argue that public banks, when governed by democratic principles and equity-centered mandates, can challenge the extractive logic of private finance and help meet collective needs.
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Published June 1, 2025View Evidence
This report argues for the integration of guaranteed income (GI) policies with public banking initiatives to create a more effective and equitable system for cash transfers in the United States. It highlights the limitations of the existing private financial infrastructure in distributing pandemic-era relief funds and proposes public banking as a solution to ensure timely, low-cost, and secure disbursements of guaranteed income payments.
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Published September 24, 2024View Evidence
This policy brief describes how local policymakers can design and implement guaranteed income pilot programs to combat poverty, address income disparities, and improve community health and well-being.
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Published September 24, 2024View Evidence
This case study examines Rise Up Cambridge, a guaranteed income pilot program for low-income families implemented by the City of Cambridge in partnership with Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee and the Cambridge Community Foundation and funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act fiscal recovery funds.
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Published May 1, 2024View Evidence
This report explores public perceptions of guaranteed income programs and identifies key strategies for framing the narrative to build broader support. Drawing on extensive research and public opinion data, it provides insights into effective messaging that resonates across diverse communities and political perspectives.
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Published September 24, 2024View Evidence
This case study examines the Denver Basic Income Project, a pilot initiative supported by the City of Denver using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that provides direct, unconditional cash payments to unhoused people.
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Published September 24, 2024View Evidence
This case study examines the Multnomah Mother’s Trust, a guaranteed income pilot program funded by Multnomah County’s using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that provided $500 in monthly direct cash assistance to 100 Black mothers living in Multnomah County, Oregon over a 24-month period from May 2022 through June 2024.
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Published April 5, 2024View Evidence
Researchers at the New School propose a new nationwide direct cash payments program that would automatically kick in when economic indicators point to a recession and phase out when the national unemployment rate begins to decline.
Updates
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Published January 31, 2024View Post
In the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, US policymakers came together across both sides of the aisle and provided the American people with nearly $1 trillion in direct cash payments to help them make it through the emergency. Along with the expanded Child Tax Credit, these payments dramatically reduced poverty, stabilizing families and our economy during a time of unprecedented turbulence.