UBC study: What happens when you give homeless people $7,500?
There’s a stark contrast between public perception and the reality of how homeless people spend money, says a researcher who gave 50 homeless people in British Columbia $7,500 each to do with as they wished.
Instead of blowing the windfall on “temptation goods,” such as alcohol, drugs or cigarettes, they spent it on rent, clothing and food, the study led by University of British Columbia researcher Jiaying Zhao found.
The handout even generated a net saving of almost $800 per recipient, taking into account the costs that would have been involved in providing shelter accommodation.
“The goal is to do something about the homelessness crisis here in Canada, and specifically Vancouver because the current approaches are failing,” said Zhao, who is working with policymakers on the problem. “I think this study provides very strong evidence in favour of a basic-income policy.”
Researchers tracked the spending of the recipients for a year after they received the cash. They also followed a control group of 65 homeless people who did not get the handout.
The study, recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found recipients spent 99 fewer days homeless, and spent 55 more days in stable housing. They also retained $1,160 more savings.
Zhao, an associate professor of psychology at UBC, said in an interview Wednesday that the researchers “found a range of surprising positive benefits of a cash transfer.”
Spending on “temptation goods” was no different between the recipients and the control group. However, the study did not include people with severe substance or alcohol use or mental health symptoms. Other criteria required participants to have been homeless for less than two years.
Participants were
Read more on globalnews.ca
