Chelsea, drawing on state, municipal, and philanthropic funding, gave nearly 2,213 families $400 a month via cash cards for eight months under a program dubbed Chelsea Eats.
United South End Settlements, using only private funds, is in the midst of an 18-month program called STEP, or Striving Toward Economic Prosperity, that gives $800 monthly checks to 16 families led by single mothers.
In Chelsea, Harvard researchers tracked where the cash cards were used and found that most of the money was spent at food and big box stores. The STEP program doesn’t track where participants spend the money, instead focusing on the impact of that spending on each family.
The Codcast took a deep dive into the two programs, trying to determine whether guaranteed income programs are worth pursuing long-term or whether they are just a COVID flash in the pan.
Jeffrey Liebman, an economist and the director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard’s Kennedy School, led a research team that examined the Chelsea Eats program. The team’s report concludes the program satisfactorily answered the primary concerns associated with guaranteed income programs.
“The two things people worry about in these kind of programs is can we trust people to spend the money well, and I think the answer to that is yes,” Liebman said. “And then secondly, are they all going to stop working when you give them money, and our study also shows that doesn’t happen. So on both of those critiques, at least at the scale of $400 a month in this community, the fears were not realized.”
Melody Valdes, chief of staff at United South End Settlements, said the money helped participating families reduce debt, plan for the future, and improve the well-being of their children.
“We’re seeing profound changes. Obviously, our impact is on a smaller scale, but we are seeing profound changes,” she said.
Neither Liebman nor Valdes are under any illusion their programs can significantly reduce poverty. That, they say, would require major, long-term federal funding. But they say the Chelsea Eats and STEP programs offer important insights on the value of putting money directly in the hands of poor people rather than running it through a government program with bureaucratic red tape.
“The nice thing about giving people unrestricted funds is you don’t have to guess what they need,” Liebman said. “It’s hard if you’re sitting in City Hall – do you need a housing program, do you need a program to give out food? Should you be subsidizing diapers? What should you be doing? Well, if you have people in need and give them unrestricted funds, they can figure it out for themselves. In this case, as you said, people mostly spent the Chelsea Eats cards at places you can get food, like grocery stores, or wholesale clubs, or local meat and produce markets.”
Valdes concurs. “Giving people money, trusting that they know what to do with those funds, and kind of replacing the overhead and administrative costs of running the programs that historically have been run and putting the money in the hands of the people that need it most, feels like it’s the beginning of a change,” she said.
Liebman said Chelsea officials discovered giving residents money to buy their own food was a better use of resources than gathering, boxing, and distributing one-size-fits-all packages of food. They also said letting residents buy their own food allowed them to purchase what they like and need, sidestepping allergy and medical concerns.
Valdes said the mere act of making individual choices is also important. “When you’re in poverty, you’re not able to make a lot of choices because you don’t have the resources to make those choices. If I only have $200 and I know I have to pay rent and buy food, I don’t have a way of saying what am I going to do with that money,” she said. “It’s saying we trust that you’re able to do this whereas other programs that exist are not getting at that.”
Liebman said similar guaranteed income programs could potentially work with other target groups. He specifically mentioned children aging out of foster care, who often have difficulty making the transition to on-their-own adulthood.
Liebman acknowledged the limitations of the Chelsea Eats program, but insisted its impact was profound.
“At the beginning of the Chelsea Eats program, the level of food insecurity in this community was just horrific,” he said. “More than 50 percent of the families said their kids were sometimes or often not getting enough to eat because the families didn’t have enough money to pay for food. It seems to me that making progress by having people actually get enough to eat is pretty profound, but you’re right, this was a temporary program and people’s needs were greater than what they got from the program. It would take more money for a longer time to end poverty in that group.”
BRUCE MOHL
NEW STORIES FROM COMMONWEALTH MAGAZINE
Participatory budgeting: Boston is moving forward with participatory budgeting, which is intended to give residents a greater role in setting the city’s financial priorities. But some are worried about the rollout and the lack of public input into the process. Read more.
Budget increase sought: The Cannabis Control Commission is seeking a 23 percent budget increase, which would add 26 new employees. Read more.
OPINION
Tinkering with 2½: Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, says old laws, like Prop. 2½ and the state’s cost growth benchmark, need to change with the times. Read more.
Floating wind farms: Matthew Lacker, a professor of mechanical engineering at UMass Amherst, explains how floating offshore wind farms work. Read more.
Climate gap: Sen. William Brownsberger of Belmont analyzes the recent Clean Heat Commission report and concludes there is a major gap in the state’s climate plan. Read more.
STORIES FROM ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Supporters think the prospects may have improved for right-to-die legislation, which they plan to introduce again on Beacon Hill next year. (Boston Globe)
Massachusetts is doing a poor job of enforcing state gun laws. (Boston Globe)
MassLive profiles the work of outgoing Longmeadow State Sen. Eric Lesser, who says his next step will be something local.
Herald columnist Peter Lucas says Maura Healey should invite Elaine Noble, the first openly gay person elected to the Legislature, to her January inauguration. (Boston Herald)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Boston officials are weighing more exemptions that would water down the city’s residency requirement for city employees. (Boston Herald)
A Globe editorial says the city should yank the name of late city councilor Albert “Dapper” O’Neil from the Zoning Board of Appeal meeting room, calling him a “loud and proud bigot.”
Westborough voters reject a bid to breathe new life into a proposal for a $36 million library renovation and expansion. (MetroWest Daily News)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
Northeastern journalism professor Dan Kennedy examines some of the confusion about COVID-19 vaccines and the mounting deaths of elderly patients. (Media Nation)
A former cardiologist and medical director at Cape Cod Hospital files a lawsuit alleging he was fired for raising concerns about alleged unethical practices that prioritized profit over patients. (Cape Cod Times)
A Berkshire Eagle editorial calls for more regulatory guidance on the safety of cell phone towers, which is a bit of a backtrack from earlier editorials that questioned claims of health effects. “We are no experts,” the editorial said. “What we do know is that we desperately need some neutral expertise to guide local officials on an issue that looms large in Lenox and Pittsfield as well as communities across the country.”
ELECTIONS
Cape Cod has turned blue on the political map, and Republicans there are unsure of the path back to power. (Boston Globe)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Wynn Resorts has been planning a non-casino expansion across the street for some time, but now it’s switching gears and wants to include gambling with the new buildout. (Boston Globe)
Worcester County businesses continue to struggle with the impact of high rates of resignations and retirements. (Telegram & Gazette)
EDUCATION
Worcester residents and officials are deeply divided over whether to support a proposed new charter school, Worcester Cultural Academy. (Telegram & Gazette)
A Globe editorial dismisses calls to replace Boston’s appointed school committee with an elected one and says the city should do away with the panel altogether and make clear that the mayor is accountable for the district’s performance. The editorial doesn’t mention it, but the idea was teed up nearly a year ago by Dorchester residents Bill Walczak and Meg Campbell in the Dorchester Reporter.
In four years, Palmer school officials signed a dozen confidentiality agreements with former teachers, amid a period of turmoil and turnover. (MassLive)
Attorney General Maura Healey hosts a conference to combat discrimination in high school athletic programs. (MassLive)
TRANSPORTATION
Hundreds of excited passengers show up for the inaugural run of the Green Line extension to Medford. (Boston Globe)
As a class project, students from the Wentworth Institute of Technology propose ways to bring Mattapan and Milton together along the Mattapan trolley line. (Dorchester Reporter)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The Department of Energy is preparing to announce that scientists for the first time have been able to generate a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain. (Washington Post)
The New Bedford mayor calls for opening the Northern Edge scallop grounds to commercial fishing. (Standard-Times)
The city of Worcester is fined and required to upgrade its pump station after the city discharged 6 million gallons of sewage into Lake Quinsigamond. (MassLive)