In recent years, cash-assistance programs have been piloted across the United States, typically as guaranteed income. In a recent study, we explored how these programs are being designed and evaluated. Reviewing 105 programs covering over 40,000 beneficiaries, we compared eligibility criteria, funding sources, distribution amounts, program administration, pilot duration, and evaluation measures.

Researchers found that just over half of the programs used income-based qualifications. Most (84 percent) had some form of place-based eligibility criteria defined by residence. The plurality of programs (28) were based in California, with 16 operating at the county level—presenting unique opportunities for coordinating GI with existing county-level poverty alleviation services. We also found that while the development of pilot programs often uses community-development framing, funding and evaluation measures tend to be more aligned with either economic or public-health intervention outcomes.

Making sense of findings across evaluations will require researchers to carefully weigh results and local context.

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Key Facts

• Researchers reviewed and compared 105 current and recent guaranteed-income (GI) pilot programs across the United States.
• Programs vary widely in design, eligibility criteria, funding, duration, administration, evaluation and more. Sensemaking of program outcomes across such variation will present challenges—especially in the coming year as findings from many of the first pilot programs are published.
• With the plurality of programs based in California, policymakers interested in poverty alleviation can gain valuable insights from existing “guaranteed income” pilot programs, both in terms of implementation and impact.

Authors include multiple UC authors and co-rearchers

• Rose Kagawa is an associate professor of emergency medicine at UC Davis Health
• Vikram Koundinya is associate professor of extension, community and regional development at UC Davis.
• Daniel Choe is an associate professor of human development and family studies at UC Davis.
• Bapu Vaitla, mayor of the City of Davis
• Alyx Volzer is a PhD student at UC Davis
• Catherine Brinkley is an associate professor of human ecology, community and regional development at UC Davis.
• Sarina Rodriguez is a PhD student at UC Merced