Imagine you get a check in the mail every month and you are not expected to pay it back.
How much of an impact would that money have on your life?

Guaranteeing residents a universal basic income (UBI) would provide people with a stipend to be used for anything with no questions asked. Currently, no countries offer a UBI, though there are smaller programs around the country where cities such as Phoenix and Los Angeles have experimented with the program.

The Bridge Project is a three-year old New York City-based organization that provides single mothers of color with financial assistance. Their clientele includes 600 families whose monthly stipend ranges between $500 and $1,000. That help is critical in helping mothers care for their children. According to Statista, in 2022, 48.1% of Black single mothers lived below the poverty line. According to 2023’s The State of Babies Yearbook, 20% of all Black and Native American infants and toddlers live in deep poverty. The national rate for all babies living in poverty is 18.6%.
Imagine if West Haven, where nearly 8% of residents live in poverty, had a UBI program. That would allow families money to pay for necessities at a time when prices have not dropped back to pre-pandemic levels. Inflation rose during the pandemic when items such as toilet paper and baby formula were in short supply. The shortages meant the items were in high demand and prices rose. Providing a basic income would allow people to bridge the gap.
A universal basic income would also help people who struggle to afford housing in the state, which, according to the Low-Income Housing Coalition, is short some 89,000 rental homes that would be affordable to low-income residents. Connecticut housing prices rose 12.3% since last January, according to Redfin Corp., a residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services. Last month, according to Realtor.com, the median West Haven housing price was nearly $349,000, slightly more than 20% over last year’s price. A monthly stipend could mean stable housing for West Haven families.
The time is right for the city to provide its residents with a UBI. The Wharton School at the Univ. of Penn. said such a stipend would most likely be funded by increased taxes. The program is government-funded but that does not mean the money comes without a cost.
UBI would be beneficial but city governments would need to change their priorities and focus less on things such as funding police departments and more on housing and access to healthy food and clean water for their residents. A UBI isn’t the only way to create a world where individuals can sustain themselves, but it could be a start.