As Black women, we’re no strangers to economic uncertainty. Any economic researcher will tell you, when it comes to money, we earn less, and we have less on average than other groups. What’s important is finding ways to level the playing field.
In Georgia, Black women earn $0.63 for every dollar a white man makes. Nearly half of the women residents in some predominantly Black neighborhoods live in poverty. A program in the state is testing solution: give Black women a little extra cash.
In Her Hands is a Georgia-based program that is providing 650 Black women in three Georgia communities with an average of $850 in cash per month, no strings attached, for two years. The program’s founders—antipoverty organizations the GRO Fund and GiveDirectly—believe that the money will help women become more financially stable.
After receiving one year of payments, the women in the program have become wealthier and healthier than their counterparts:
27.9 percent of participants had emergency funds compared to 14.8 percent of people in a comparison group.
Participants were nearly half as likely as those in the comparison group to have utilities shut off for nonpayment.
Participants had on average, four additional healthy days per month than those in the comparison group.
These programs are not just for the people who are at risk of homelessness. They’re for the people who have families and who never get a day off. Ysenia Bonilla, Los Angeles-based Fund for Guaranteed Income
In Her Hands is just one of many guaranteed income programs that are cropping up across the country to fight poverty. They work by providing regular payments to members of a community who can demonstrate that they have a financial need. Unlike some other financial assistance programs, guaranteed income programs give recipients cash and there are no restrictions on how they use the funds.
Over 100 programs
There have been more than 100 pilot programs across the country, says Ysenia Bonilla, communications associate for Los Angeles-based Fund for Guaranteed Income, an organization that facilitates cash transfers to program participants. Contrary to what many believe, you don’t have to be completely destitute to take advantage of a guaranteed income program. “These programs are not just for the people who are at risk of homelessness,” Bonilla says. “They’re for the people who have families and who never get a day off.”