Somerville updates on yearlong guaranteed basic income pilot; officials report reduced stress, cash used for rent and essentials

Somerville officials on May 27 updated the City Council committee on the city's guaranteed basic income (GBI) pilot, saying 200 enrolled households received $750 per month from July 2024 through June 2025 and that early data show participants largely spent the money on rent, food and household needs.

The update, presented by the city's ARPA team and its partners, outlined program design, participant characteristics and preliminary findings from midpoint interviews and vendor spending data. ARPA Director Erica Fernandez said, "We are distributing $750 per participant monthly. And that occurs from July 2024 to June 2025. In total, that will be over the course of 1 year, dollars 1,800,000.0 total distributed throughout these 200 participants." The presentation noted UMass Boston is leading evaluation work.

The committee heard that the pilot enrolled 200 existing clients of the Office of Housing Stability (OHS) or the Somerville…