Los Angeles County’s Guaranteed Income Program acknowledges the challenges faced by residents in recent years by alleviating 1,000 eligible participants with $1,000 per month for 3 years.
This program has had open enrollment since March 31, 2022, and though it is still in its infancy, it should be extended beyond the 3 year time frame that has been proposed.
“Breathe” is a pilot research program being conducted by The University of Pennsylvania that will be studying the overall health and economic growth of those selected.
The average American today is faced with an uphill battle when it comes to both health and financial stability, even more so with the COVID-19 pandemic and residual effects caused by it.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people of color and female minorities are facing occupational mobility which is one of the factors that has led to a higher number of people being at or below the poverty line.
Unemployment for African Americans is close to double that of white Americans, and in order to address these issues it is imperative that an extra two years should be added to the program.
Additionally, Transition Age Youth (TAY), Domestic Violence Survivors and or head of household falls under this criteria where they have had unfortunate disadvantages.
The guaranteed income program should use this momentum in order to further assist those who are more prone to these struggles and therefore would benefit from this assistance.
A lot of the people who fall under TAY are women who were either incarcerated or released in the past seven years which has restricted them from a plethora of past and or current employment opportunities.
Many people today are struggling with emotional, physical, and financial issues.
Ideally, a program such as “Breathe” should remain for at least a five-year time frame to allow sufficient time to recover, especially for some under stringent circumstances.
The efforts going towards stopping this unfortunate cycle is commendable, but should be sustained, re-evaluated and extended.