While much of Ann Arbor is wealthy, there are many residents living on the streets, living paycheck to paycheck, or living with the general stress of having to work extra to meet their basic needs.
Soon, the city will be the first in Michigan to pilot a guaranteed income program, of which there have only ever been 104 of in the country, with 47 currently active, according to Stanford’s Basic Income Lab map.
On June 5, Ann Arbor’s City Council approved the guaranteed income pilot program after deciding to allocate $1.6 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to the project in April 2022.
Organizers of the program have the goal to make Ann Arbor more inclusive to low-income families and will supply 100 Ann Arbor residents with $530 a month for 24 months. The funds must be used by 2026, so the city hopes to pilot the project by December 2023 or early 2024.
University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions, including staff from public health, public policy, and social work departments, have been heavily involved in the design of the project, working alongside community organizations that regularly support low-income Ann Arbor residents.
“We really are still in the planning phase, designing all the materials, designing the website,” Kristin Seefeldt, associate professor at UM’s School of Social Work who is leading the program’s research team, says. “We also have to get the sign-off from the University of Michigan before we can do anything so it’s probably going to be this fall when we’re doing more active recruitment and the application will be open.”
Eligibility requirements are still being discussed with everyone involved to ensure the process will be an easy one, that benefits those who most need it.
While ARPA requires that anyone receiving funding must make 65% of an area’s median income, which in Ann Arbor would be $48,000, Seefeldt says that number will definitely be lower, most likely set at around 225% of the poverty line.
Also, applicants must be 18 or older and in some way be an entrepreneur. Seefeldt says this term is being used loosely though, and a variety of different work will count, including people who have side hustles, are trying to start a business, or who have a business going, as well as musicians, artists, freelancers, and other gig work.
Once the application opens and closes, applicants will be vetted for eligibility, and 100 people will be chosen completely randomly. The lottery will also choose an additional 100 participants to help with research.
“There’s a hope that receiving extra funds serve no matter how the pilots are organized, lead to fewer instances of food insecurity, and housing insecurity, and general financial instability, so that having this kind of stable source of income, even though the pilot is only for 24 months, will eliminate a lot of the uncertainty in people’s lives,” Seefeldt says. “In addition to looking at those markers, we’re also going to be looking to see if this has an impact on people’s lives or business activity. Does getting this payment allow some people to really invest more in their business? On the flip side, it could be that for some people, the extra money allows them to stop having to hustle so much, and just focus on other things that they think are important.”
Along with community participation, Ann Arbor hopes to have social scientists document the impact the aid had on everyone involved and the city as a whole.
Through this research, the guaranteed basic income program could be a longer, larger benefit for all Ann Arbor families, and could even set an example for other pilots to start throughout the state or country.
People interested in the upcoming Ann Arbor program can sign up to receive updates over the next few months.
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