Hundreds of eligible recipients will get the next $500 installment from Minneapolis’ guaranteed stimulus check program tomorrow. The Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot program started in June 2022 and is expected to pay eligible recipients monthly cash payments through June 2024.
Minneapolis’ Guaranteed Stimulus Check: Who Gets And When?
The Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot program started last year with an aim to give a monthly income boost to needy families. The program’s stated objective is to provide “flexibility to balance immediate needs with long-term investments” and help recipients become financially secure.
Under the program, eligible families in Minneapolis receive guaranteed stimulus checks of $500 each month for two years (June 2022 – June 2024). Two-hundred households have been selected under the program, and they are free to spend the stimulus money on whatever they want.
Of these 200 households, 69% are female and 26% are male. In terms of race/ethnicity, 80.5% are black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), and 19.5% are white/ non-Hispanic. Recipients are between the ages of 18 and 88 years, with the average age being 38 years old. About 21.5% of recipients are 18-29 years old, and 42.5% are 30-39 years old, while just 1% are 80-89 years old.
In terms of household size, about a third of the recipients have just one person in the household, while about 20% have five or more people in the household.
To qualify for the guaranteed stimulus check, an applicant must be 18 years old by Jan. 1, 2022, live in the specified zip codes, and have an annual income at or below 50% of the city’s median income level. Applicants must also have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, like by losing their job, seeing higher health expenses, or losing access to childcare, technology, or transportation.
Payments are processed on the 20th of every month, so the next installment will go out on June 20.
Growing Popularity Of Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Programs
Guaranteed income programs have become more popular since the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, an organization founded in June 2020, has been advocating for guaranteed income programs at the local, state and federal levels.
A 2020 study from the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University found that guaranteed income, even as little as $250 per month, can help reduce poverty by 40%.
Several guaranteed income pilot programs are now popping up across the country. For instance, Los Angeles has launched its Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot (BIG:LEAP). The program provides 3,200 people with $1,000 a month for 12 months.
Chicago is also running a guaranteed income program called the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot program. It offers 5,000 people $500 a month.
Most guaranteed basic income pilot programs currently are funded through philanthropic donors and the American Rescue Plan Act.
