County officials in Marin County California have begun a pilot-basic income project that will last two years and distribute $1,000 to 125 low-income “non-white” women. The project is based on class and gender and will be tried throughout Marin County California for two years.
The program, which was approved by county supervisors, costs Marin County $400,000 to implement and will pick 125 “non-White women” to participate. The women must have a child under 18 years old, and must also be categorized as “low income.”
“The first cohort will focus on low-income moms of color; we’re starting with those moms with the greatest aggregate of challenges: low income, young children and facing the daily travails and insults of overt and covert racial discrimination,” Thomas Peters of the Marin Community Foundation said. The foundation is partnering with the county in helping implement the pilot project.
Residents and county executives compared the program to reparations for black residents.
“This is a great start, Black people in Marin City, and the County at large are owed reparations,” said Charlene Eldon, a Sausalito resident.
Evanston, Illinois was the first city in the United States to recently approve reparations for black residents. The city will be paying $25,000 per family throughout Evanston.
The vote in Marin County was unanimous.
“The ultimate endgame for this demonstration project is to have an example of how cash aid can be really helpful in terms of alleviating poverty, to test the usefulness of this approach to addressing poverty and addressing some of the racial inequities we know exist in the county and beyond,” says foundation Vice President Jonathan Logan.
