2. Tiered UBI plus based on community input and pilot projects key to making a dent in racial wealth inequities

[Jhumpa, “Exploring Guaranteed Income Through A Racial And Gender Justice Lens,” Roosevelt Institute, June 2019 https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RI_UBI-Racial-Gender-Justice-brief-201906.pdf, accessed June 26, 2023, GDS-LL]

Universal + Basic Income Model

The universal + basic income model is a tiered guaranteed income proposal, which accounts for the fact that Black people have faced systematic barriers to economic prosperity throughout US history. Conceived by Community Change President Dorian Warren, this model calls for an additional payment to be dispersed to Black families on top of the standard benefit given to all families over a period of time (Warren 2017b).

UNIVERSAL + BASIC INCOME MODEL

*Figure Omitted

The “plus model” acknowledges that the wealth created in the US is inextricably linked to Black labor, sweat, and tears, and this community has never received the benefits created from that labor. Due to persistent racial discrimination, Black unemployment consistently remains double that of white unemployment, and, as noted before, Black people are dramatically over represented in our criminal justice system due to over-policing and surveillance in Black neighborhoods.

It is clear that the UBI + model is the closest implementation we currently have that could make a dent in racial wealth inequities. Given that Black families would receive more money than other communities, it begins to account for the centuries of disinvestment and discrimination Black communities faced, and continue to face, in the US. The plus model does not account for gender wealth inequities, but we can build on the premise of this model when assessing the implementation of a guaranteed income. We will also need to ensure that other wealth-stripping policies through the criminal justice system and other municipal debts that are racialized are eliminated.

It is clear that the UBI + model is the closest implementation we currently have that could make a dent in racial wealth inequities.

RECOMMENDATIONS—IT’S BIGGER THAN POLICY

There is still more to be learned and documented about how to design the best guaranteed income policy in order to advance greater racial and gender equity. Current pilot programs in Stockton, California, and Jackson, Mississippi, will help us answer many design questions (SEED n.d.; Springboard to Opportunities n.d.). In addition to the evidence that will be collected from these pilots, direct input from the communities that this is targeted towards must be incorporated in order for any policy implemented to be as effective as possible. For example, questions around an annual lump-sum payment versus monthly payments must be discussed with individual communities, so that policymakers have a sense of what option would best achieve the ultimate goals of the policy. It’s possible that in these conversations, the recommendation is made to allow recipients to choose what payment breakdown they would prefer.

In addition to direct community input for the design of a guaranteed income, it is important to understand that a guaranteed income is ultimately an income policy solution, and income is only part of the equation when thinking about wealth.

When designing a policy platform to address gender and racial wealth inequity, key considerations include: shifting harmful narratives that impede us from seeing everyone as deserving; addressing current wealth extraction policies as well as historic impediments to building wealth for women and people of color; tackling wealth concentration and corporate power; and healing generations of trauma caused by economic instability. Below, we outline design elements that can help us create a society where everyone has the ability and wherewithal to live with dignity, freedom of choice, and security.

Enacting Tiered Disbursement According to Historic Disadvantage

A guaranteed income policy proposal that is grounded in racial and gender justice must include a racial and gender equity approach that accounts for the rules, institutions, and norms that have ensured that certain groups reap a greater share of all that America offers while others have been intentionally left out. Without a strategic race and gender equity approach, a guaranteed income will not address and undo the underlying structures of racial and gender exclusion and discrimination that cause people of color and women to be overrepresented among the jobless and low-wage workers in the first place.

It is for these reasons that a tiered guaranteed income model that gives stipends based on historic disadvantage and current wealth status is the most promising way forward. Such a model allows for people of color and women-headed households to receive a larger benefit in order to make up for barriers placed on them by policies of our past and present.