A collaboration between the City of Newark, the Economic Security Project and the applied research organization The Jain Family Institute has resulted in the Guaranteed Income Report, the findings from a study on housing insecurity and a proposed pilot program to address this challenge.
Overseen by Mayor Ras J. Baraka and spearheaded by the Guaranteed Income Taskforce launched last spring, the report identifies the need for cash infusions to address resident financial insecurity made recently worse by the coronavirus pandemic. The Mayor has been a long-time proponent of cash transfer policies such as guaranteed income or universal basic income that has recently been gaining national attention.
Newark’s demographics as an urban center reflects other urban communities:
- 78% of Newark residents are renters, with median rents are up 20 percent while median income declined 10% since 2000,
- Median income is less than $40,000 a year while the United Way of Greater Newark estimates that annual family income must reach $63,000 to meet basic needs.
Those gaps adversely impacting housing and overall basic needs are widening due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mayor sees these as stresses on communities that policies are needed to address.
“With the novel coronavirus ravaging neighborhoods across America in general and Newark in particular, disproportionately impacting communities of color, there is an even greater need to support those communities, who are already at high risk,” said Mayor Baraka.
Economic Security Project Co-chair Natalie Foster sees this as a national challenge as well, stating, “Long before the COVID crisis was a human made crisis of an economy so broken that nearly half American families were unable to pull together $400 in an emergency if needed. We now have more than 40 million people unemployed due to COVID, and it’s hitting communities of color the hardest. A guaranteed income is needed more than ever.”
The Task Force’s Report gave immediate state-level policy recommendations to increase residents’ access to financial security and outlined the principles for the City of Newark to seek in a guaranteed income pilot. It also recommended the City convene a Municipal Fines and Fees Task Force to study ways that revenue from its residents could be turned back to residents to improve their financial security.
The next step is for the City of Newark to approach the local, state, and national foundation and donor community to fund a guaranteed income pilot in the city. Kevin Callaghan is the Newark Philanthropic Liaison at callaghank@ci.newark.nj.us for those seeking information to contribute.
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