America’s $125 MILLION ‘guaranteed income’ giveaway: Huge rise in taxpayer-funded programs offering no-string handouts of up to $36,000 – including D.C. scheme used by mom to buy $6K luxury Miami vacation

Taxpayer-funded “guaranteed income” programs that give struggling families up to $36,000 with no strings attached are being rolled out across the country, DailyMail.com analysis shows.

The plans, which total more than $125 million in value, have soared in popularity since the pandemic as progressive leaders embrace cash to support Americans below the poverty line.

But the radical projects have been criticized after it emerged that a mother of three in Washington DC had spent more than half of a $10,800 buyout on a luxury holiday to Miami, along with a new wardrobe for her children and a ‘glow up’. for herself.

Canethia Miller, 27, spent $6,000 on the holiday for herself, her partner and their three children, buying 15 new outfits for the kids and spending $180 on a haircut. She got the money through the first project in the country that offered money as a lump sum instead of monthly payments.

Similar programs in cities from Los Angeles to New York offer payments of up to $1,000 a month for three years, with no strings attached to how the money is spent.

Canethia Miller, 27, spent more than half of a $10,800 lump sum on a luxury vacation to Miami, along with a new wardrobe for her kids and a ‘glow up’ for herself

Erika James, 34, who also participated in the DC scheme, opted for monthly payments of $900 and said she put the money in a savings account for her eldest child, De’Vire

Eligibility criteria for much of the program is based on the federal poverty level, a sliding scale based on income. For a single person, the poverty line is $15,060 or less, while for a family of four it is $31,200 or less.

Advocates and program leaders argue that guaranteed income projects are proven to lift people out of poverty by helping them achieve financial stability and goals, including moving out of federally subsidized housing. Recipients say the money has changed their lives and even lifted some out of homelessness.

But critics say the plans “destroy fundamental elements of the social contract and create the wrong incentives for people.” They argue that cases like Miller’s prove that offering money without strings attached to its spending is not a solution to inequality.

Ongoing projects will provide more than $125 million to nearly 10,000 Americans nationwide across more than 30 programs lasting up to three years, according to data published on the Guaranteed Income Pilots Dashboard.

Separate data from Stanford University’s Basic Income Lab shows that at least 153 projects have taken place in America, of which 68 are ‘active’. But the data does not include schemes, including the one in D.C., which cost about $1.5 million.

Most guaranteed income schemes are funded with taxpayer money.

The largest and most expensive guaranteed income plan is the Big Leap program in Los Angeles, which offers 3,200 participants $1,000 a month for a year.

The $36 million project was announced in October 2021 and is open to adult residents of the city who have at least one child, or are pregnant, and have an income below the federal poverty level.

Like most other projects across the country, Big Leap is billed as a ‘pilot’ that aims to study the impact of guaranteed, no-obligation income, and eligible applicants are selected at random.

Los Angeles is also the location of the second largest program, paying $1,000 per month to 1,000 eligible LA County residents for three years. That will be funded with about $36 million in taxpayer money.

The third largest, in New York City, offers 600 participants between $500 and $1,000 per month for three years.

Washington DC’s project is run by Martha’s Table, which delivers the handouts through the Strong Families, Strong Futures initiative. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office recently committed another $1 million to implement the plan for a second year.

The DC program was funded by Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser and is the only one in the US to offer cash as a lump sum

Miller was one of 132 low-income new or pregnant mothers who could choose between 12 monthly payments of $900 or a one-time payment of $10,800.

She opted for the lump sum amount. After the one-year program, she said, “I wanted to mess it up. I wanted to have fun.’

The five-day vacation to Miami included a boat tour that Miller said was a chance to show her children the city’s millions of dollars in waterfront properties. The family also visited museums, took a swamp wildlife tour and had dinner together during the trip.

“(My children) experienced something that I could never have done if I didn’t have that money,” she told the Washington Post, which spoke to several program participants.

Miller said she spent $4,000 on bills and a used car, and opened a bank account where she wanted to keep at least $50.

The program, like others across the country, also offered financial literacy courses, although they were not required.

Miller acknowledged that many communities in her area “don’t know the financial benefit of saving for your children; that’s why we’re broke, that’s why we have nothing to pass on or no house to give up’.

Other mothers who participated also spoke about the importance of financial literacy.

Stacie Adams, a mother of four who also received the lump sum, said: “(The courses were not) mandatory, but maybe they should have been. Many people haven’t seen the $10,000 yet and may have spent it right away. Even I also have problems with finances.”

LA County’s BREATHE program – which provides $1,000 per month for three years – shared promotional materials from participants talking about the positive impact it had on their lives.

Darien, a single mother of five from Long Beach, was in tears as she said, “For the next few years, I understand. I can save and hopefully do things with my kids that I’ve always wanted to do.”

“I don’t get much help,” added Darien, whose last name was withheld. She said she was divorced from her ex-husband and had been single for about three years.

‘When I was chosen, you don’t know how happy I was. I was shocked. And then (my children asked) ‘why are you crying?’ I was like, I think from this day on our lives are going to change. It’ll be different, you know.

“I told them that God has answered our prayers and that we will get the help we need.”

Another mother, Jacqueline, also from Long Beach, said she was living in her car with her 10-year-old daughter when she was accepted into the BREATHE program.

‘We lived or slept in my car. There was no hope for us and I was just trying to survive,” she said.

Jacqueline, a participant in LA County’s BREATHE program — which provides $1,000 a month for three years — said the program lifted her and her daughter out of homelessness

Darien, a single mother of five from Long Beach who also participates in the BREATHE program, was in tears as she said, “I’ll be able to save and hopefully do things with my kids that I’ve always wanted to do.”

“When I got that call, it was literally a month after I became homeless and we were already on the streets. It gave me hope and it just gave me something to look forward to.”

Jacqueline said the money was an “opportunity” and that she plans to go back to school and then find work in the medical field, while ensuring her daughter stays at her current school.

‘This program has given me the opportunity to live again. Be a mother and get back to normal little by little.”

Many of the programs have shared the uplifting stories of families whose lives have been changed by the projects. Programs are often specifically targeted at mothers and young families, while others are open to any adult living below the poverty line.

But critics say cash is a blunt instrument that doesn’t address the root causes of poverty.

Oren Cass, executive director of the conservative US Compass think tank, said: ‘A permanent, society-wide system that takes care of everyone would destroy fundamental elements of the social contract and create the wrong incentives for people as they make choices about their lives. ‘

Joel Griffith, an economics researcher at The Heritage Foundation, added: ‘Very often these handouts actually trap people in a cycle of poverty. This does not help people build long-term wealth and achieve long-term economic prosperity.”