Skip Navigation

Michigan’s $55M experiment with guaranteed income begins with Flint moms

www.bridgemi.com Michigan’s $55M experiment with guaranteed income begins with Flint moms | Bridge Michigan

Michigan will experiment with guaranteed income in Flint, one of its poorest cities, giving expectant and new moms $7,500 — no strings attached — to lift the stress of poverty from their newborns.

Michigan’s $55M experiment with guaranteed income begins with Flint moms | Bridge Michigan

FLINT—Eight days after entering the world, Khi’Meir Taylor made another debut — this time in what could be a national spotlight.

Wednesday was the first day of a $55 million experiment to test whether cash payments can protect children from the toxic stress of poverty.

27

You're viewing part of a thread.

Show Context
27 comments
  • Again, I get the sentiment, but that form of system, especially seeing how you're explaining it, seems to create more problems than solve. How would one account for what they have done? It also seems that a system like this would be ripe for abuse.

    • Abuse as in, someone being paid for work they didn't do? That's... literally what UBI is lol

      I will say that, while I prefer domestic and reproductive labor being compensated, I acknowledge it's not a simple problem. It would work in a highly communal society where people have very little time to themselves, since we'd all just see each other doing a good job. It would also work in a mass surveillance society since we'd all be watched 24/7, but that's not exactly good lol

      UBI is fine. I'm just grumpy because its not perfectly fair.

      • UBI is perfectly fair. The benefits to the lowest incomes is massively higher than the benefit to the wealthy while being a simple system that does not require any complex overhead to make sure the 'right' people are receiving it. The same as with public parks, roads, schools, fire departments, and any other public thing available to everyone that is paid through taxes.

        • Public parks and roads and schools and fire departments all have overhead to make sure they're being used correctly and being used by the people who should be using them. Letting someone who literally plays video games all day draw from UBI is like letting adults continue attending public school after they graduate, or the fire department blasting a house with water when it isn't on fire. They don't need it.

          • Who is making sure the 'right people' use parks and public schools?

            Fire departments serve everyone when there is an emergency.

            • We don't allow the whole community to attend social studies class, we don't allow people to farm in the park., and the fire department doesn't save people when there isn't an emergency. Your libertine conception of UBI has no parallel in any public service. There's always terms and conditions and stipulations and regulations and oversight and overhead.

27 comments