WEBVTT - No Strings Attached 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:02.080 Hey, hey, hey, hey, get us. 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:07.200 Latino USA is celebrating thirty years today, ain't that akos? 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:09.880 And we would love to hear from you. Dear listener, 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.160 Do you want to share with us exactly what Latino 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.560 USA has meant to you? Do you have a birthday 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.160 wish for us? Leave us a voicemail at six four 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:22.880 six five seven to one one two two four. That's 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:27.280 six four six five seven to one one two two four, 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:30.400 and we might feature your message in an upcoming show 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.720 grass Yas. This is Latino USA, the radio journal of 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.720 news and curlture Latino USA, latin Us, Latino USA. 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:40.120 I'm Maria Inojosa. 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.800 We bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:45.960 to you, overlooked by the rest of the media, and 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.080 while the country is struggling to deal with these, we 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.200 listen to the stories of black and Latinos. Studio United 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:56.120 Latino Front, a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:56.720 the movement. 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.000 I'm Maria Inojosa. Nose Bayan. 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.800 Marta Lopez was sitting in the passenger seat of the 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:11.200 family car in October of twenty twenty one while her 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:16.280 husband Freddie drove through the streets of Los Angeles. She 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.040 was checking the local news on her phone when something 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:21.399 on Univision caught her attention. 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:26.119 There is Milo Sintras Families cal do Asta. 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.480 The city of Los Angeles was launching a new program 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:35.480 to support low income families, especially those hit hard by 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:40.520 the pandemic. But it all sounded Martha thought just too 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.759 good to be true. The program would give them one 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:51.080 thousand dollars a month for one year. Martha's husband had 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.080 lost his job early in the pandemic and she was 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:56.440 a stay at home mom taking care of their two 0:01:56.520 --> 0:02:00.480 young daughters, so the family hadn't had a stable income 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:05.960 for more than six months. Those way up, so Martha 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:09.520 decided to apply for the program. About six months later, 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:15.600 she got the call. 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:17.560 Yeah you medi here on Yosa sikomon chok o Hami No. 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.120 She couldn't believe she had been selected. It felt like 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:23.400 a miracle. 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:30.400 She says, Anda youady a media Yes, yes, staff to 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:32.720 Premier mild is the miss. 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.720 And then Martha got her debit card with the first 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:40.160 one thousand dollars on it, ready for her to use. However, 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:50.919 she wanted no rules, no restrictions, no receipts needed from 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.600 Futuru media and pr X. It's Latino USA. I'm Maria 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:59.480 no Josa today, no strings attached. What happens when people 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:02.480 who are ruggling to make ends meet get a stable 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.960 income from the government. We look at how this strategy 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:13.600 could help tackle inequality in the United States. Maybe you've 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:21.360 heard this term before. Universal basic income. It's the idea 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:26.120 of giving people cash regularly and unconditionally, so that they 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.960 can spend the money as they wish, regardless of their 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:30.280 economic status. 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:31.120 Or immediate need. 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.800 It's all to ensure a basic living standard for everyone. 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.800 It's a concept that's become pretty popular in recent years, 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:43.880 especially with the fear of technological advances leaving more and 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:48.760 more people out of work. In his twenty twenty presidential campaign, 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:53.160 tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang ran on the promise to provide 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.560 people universal basic income. It was the first time a 0:03:57.720 --> 0:03:58.920 candidate had done that. 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:00.600 Soniversal can Come. 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:05.280 Would be one thousand dollars dividend for every American adult 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:10.480 citizen every month under my plan. Cash programs aren't new. 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:16.000 Different variations have existed for decades, both inside and outside 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:20.040 of the US. They often target specific groups in need, 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:24.440 and they try to promote certain behaviors like restricting what 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:28.240 people can or can't spend the money on. But the 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.920 idea of the government handing people free money is something 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:37.440 that some Americans still find uncomfortable, or maybe many did 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:41.480 before the stimulus checks received during the pandemic made us 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:43.680 a lot more familiar. 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:44.200 With this idea. 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:48.840 Federal stimulus checks are being distributed this week, and it's 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.839 a welcome relief for those out of work and hoping 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:52.960 for better days to come. 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:58.160 Even before the pandemic, California was already leading a kind 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:03.479 of renaissance of the basic income idea. More than one 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:07.960 hundred guaranteed income programs have launched across the country, and 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:12.760 most are found in the state of California. All of 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:16.159 them are still in the pilot phase. They usually run 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:20.400 for one or two years. The results have been interesting, 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:25.760 but these conversations have mostly stayed inside city councils and 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:30.920 university classrooms. So what's it like for the people who 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:34.960 are participating in these programs? How is a guaranteed income 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:36.240 making a difference for them? 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:37.080 If at all? 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.400 Latino USA Senior producer Marta Martinez spent a month in 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.280 Los Angeles following two women who participated in one of 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:50.719 the biggest guaranteed income programs in the country and where 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:57.920 half of the beneficiaries are Latinos and Latinas. Here's Marta 0:05:58.240 --> 0:05:59.240 with the story. 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:08.640 Ola p Pasa see Oh Stuck here a Plan. 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.040 It's January twenty fifth, and the twenty fifth of the 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:17.720 month is when everything starts for participants of Big Leap. 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.840 That's the guaranteed basic income program the City of Los 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:26.960 Angeles launched in twenty twenty two. Marta Lopev, who we 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.440 met at the beginning of the show, is one of 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:33.760 over thirty two hundred people who got selected, and almost 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:35.520 eighty percent of them are women. 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:40.200 Nokamira for Tunaa Perosi is the Kreya Mucco. 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.960 Marta feels very lucky. More than fifty thousand people applied. 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.600 Sandamlas Say is the La man Larba. 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.040 Marta, who is from Honduras, has been running around the 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.400 house since six am. She's also thirty eighty years old, 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.760 the median age of Bigly participants. She has straight, dark 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.080 chocolate hair cut in the perfect horizontal line right above 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:12.800 her shoulders. Her prominent cheeks and forehead are sprinkled with freckles. 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.000 Media the program coordinators put me in touch with Martha 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:23.240 and some other participants who feel comfortable sharing their experiences publicly. Today, 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.040 Martha will get a transfer of one thousand dollars on 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.480 her program debit card for her to spend however she wants. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.680 Martha only has three deposits left. Her twelve months are 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:38.800 almost up. Today, Martha hasn't been able to go to 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.840 the ATM to retreat the money, as she usually does 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:42.840 on the twenty fifth of the. 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:47.440 Month if on the Yoma is protecting Locala. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:54.240 Her daughter, Lizzie, who is eight years old, is sick again, 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:56.800 so Martha had to stay home and take care of 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:04.080 her water in Lawuka, the skinny girl with black, shiny 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:08.200 eyes and two missing frontis, has asthma, and the unusually 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:12.000 cool temperatures California has been experiencing this winter are testing 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.200 her health. She's been missing school more often than Martha 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.600 would like to beta, and because Lizzie didn't go to school, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.239 her little sister, Sophia, who is five years old, didn't 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:27.200 want to go either. No yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:31.080 Chow. 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.520 Sophia prefers to spend the afternoon hanging from her mother's 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.280 neck and kissing her. She's the clown of the house. 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.080 You never know what will come out of her unfiltered mouth. 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:48.960 The family of four lives in a one bedroom apartment 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.400 in South Lay, tacked between the One and Freeway and Broadway, 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:55.280 immersed in the never ending buzz of traffic. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:02.000 It's a wainbow. She loves rainbows. 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.160 It's a welcoming home. The living room is filled with toys, 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.120 and there are studio pictures of Lizzie and Sophia hanging 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:10.080 on several walls. 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:18.520 Preparing caldo gaina una ros blanco. 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:27.000 Marta is preparing Lizzie's favorite food, calo hen soup to 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:34.839 help her recover from her cold. Well she cuts the vegetables. 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:37.280 Martha shares some tips on how she tries to save 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:38.400 money Parta. 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:47.240 De casa, manera massabien and too pecto rodinero bradio La 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:50.000 casa so significant. 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.839 She cooks at home every day because it's healthier and 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:55.839 cheaper than eating out. 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:04.599 Termina sien dome na al gore let's to burget mohrhence. 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:06.640 Mano. 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.640 Also, eating out can be more of a concern than 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.960 a fun experience for the family because, besides having asthma, 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:17.120 Lizzie has a severe allergy to cow's milk. Lizzie's fragile 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:20.040 health has limited MARTA's options to find a full time 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.079 job because she needs to keep a clothes eye on 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:26.120 her at all times. The family's earnings are under the 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.600 federal poverty line that was less than twenty seven dollars 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:32.440 a year for a family of four in twenty twenty one, 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.640 and they rely on food stems for their food supply 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:40.319 that's usually enough for the month. Lately, inflation has made 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.400 things tighter, but Martha says there are some items that 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.840 she just cannot not buy, like cooking oil. 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:52.800 Lotre go cord mediavo uno inmoteroluso Martin. 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:55.600 It's oil to fry food or to make her seasonings. 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:59.000 So instead of buying two bottles now she buys one 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:03.679 and moderates use. Having the extra help of one thousand 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:06.480 dollars a month through the city's program has allowed the 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.680 family to afford themselves a caprico every once in a. 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:14.520 While prove tacos so they were sen. 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:21.360 Guando Sunday is smartas day to rest and be with 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:25.960 her family. Sometimes they eat out, usually tackles, and during 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.559 the summer, she took the girls to the aquarium or 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:38.640 the beach, Sophia Lizzie. Dinner is ready, but only Sophia 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.200 shows up with her bubbly eyes and mischievous smiles. Lizzie 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:46.320 has fallen asleep in the bedroom while watching cartoons. Well 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:50.120 we eat caloa. Sofia tells me where babies come from. 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:52.480 She says, parents buy them. 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.640 At stores, My mom my Fami. 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:12.120 Marta came to the United States in twenty fourteen. It 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.600 wasn't her first time visiting, but this time Martha wasn't 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:20.040 traveling alone. She was pregnant with Lizzi. She first lived 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:23.079 with her sister in Philadelphia, and that's where she gave 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.599 birth to Lizzi on her own. Her husband, Freddi was 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:33.200 still back in on duras im Asalio. Lizzie was beautiful, 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:36.319 like a little doll, Marca says, but it was a 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:37.320 difficult time for her. 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:46.760 Not dino yo barra barastra, mihiirago vien duruwa is dressed. 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:49.840 Martha didn't have money to buy clothes for her daughter, 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.360 not even when they left the hospital. So when Lizzie 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.960 was three months old, Martha had to start working at 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.920 a factory packaging fruit. She worried about so many things. 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:15.199 Ami Freddie wasn't there to support her. She had to 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.400 earn money to pay for rent a babysitter, to cover 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.760 for her daughter's basic needs and her own. On top 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.120 of the financial stress Martha was dealing with. This was 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:27.880 nine months old when she was diagnosed with a severe 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:32.200 allergy to cow's milk. Martha felt like she had failed. 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.840 She started having trouble sleeping, She lost her appetite, her 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:38.000 hair started falling off. 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.080 But as dion Dia k. 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:53.920 One day, when she got back from work, she felt 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.280 like her body was exploding. You imps. 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:01.680 Or Media fell on a party. 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:07.400 Scared, she couldn't breathe. A tingling sensation spread across the 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:08.480 left side of her body. 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:11.760 To the girl, let's say you memor your memoir. 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:18.760 Martha thought she was going to die. At the hospital, 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:22.360 doctors told her she had had a panic attack. She 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.760 had never heard that term before, but Marta knew that 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.520 going back to Honduda's was not an option. Two of 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.280 her brothers, who run a bus company, had been killed 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:35.600 by criminal gangs who demanded a quota, a monthly payment 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:43.200 in exchange for their safety. Meha Caparos, Martha was scared 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:52.800 that in Honduras. She could get killed at any moment. Eventually, 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.440 Freddie came to the US and the family moved to 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:59.360 Los Angeles. Martha gave birth to their second daughter, Sophia, 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:09.480 and became a stay at home mamuando. When they moved, 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:13.040 she asked Freddy half jokingly to live near her hospital. 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:17.880 Well, sim maybe then well. 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:21.680 Martha says that after the panic attack, her life has 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:33.200 never been the same. The next day, on January twenty sixth, 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.240 I accompany Marta to get her big lip deposit at 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:43.640 an ATM inside a supermarket in South La Liza didn't 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.720 go to school today either. She still hasn't fully recovered 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:56.240 from her code. This is the ATM Marta uses most 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.680 of the time to get her cash from the program. 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:05.640 She inserts the card into the ATM slot, A button 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.440 appears on the screen that allows her to directly withdraw 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:12.200 one thousand dollars at once. The program decided to distribute 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.120 the money through prepaid debit cards because they were looking 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.200 for a system that would be flexible but also safe. 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:22.160 Some of the participants don't have bank accounts, and some 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.840 people aren't used to making card payments. 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.680 Gussie its list. 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.600 In less than a minute. Martha has the cash in 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.080 her hands and she quickly puts the stack of bills 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.640 inside of her purse, except for a couple of twenties 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:39.840 she keeps in her pocket. 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.640 Yeah, thank you and nich manus putla Ana. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:47.840 Met with. 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.560 These deposits make Martha feel secure and give her the 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:56.000 confidence that she'll be able to pay for her basic 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:00.320 expenses each month, which are around fifteen hundred dollars without rent. 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.400 The family pays a little over one thousand dollars a 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.919 month for their one bedroom apartment. Martha uses five hundred 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:11.000 from the Big Leap program for rent and the other 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:14.720 half well, in recent months, she started investing the money 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:20.160 on something she's very excited about. Well. 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:22.399 In Bertier and Loquez San Pres. 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.960 Martha has been investing the other five hundred on what 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:29.800 she calls her small business. 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.040 Coming up on letting the USA, we find out how 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:41.160 Martha is investing the other half of the cash from 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.520 the Guaranteed Income program, and we learn about the origins 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:49.240 of universal basic income. Stay with us not themas. 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:18.040 Get usuena umo jote came through Muchasa mucho amor Inlardino 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:24.359 Musical and Miss Agri and Milman much at the Ponto. 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.560 Hey, we're back before the break. You met Marta Lopez, 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:46.960 one of the participants of Big Leap. It's the guarantee 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.080 basic income program the city of Los Angeles, launched in 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.560 twenty twenty two and one of the biggest in the country. 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:57.960 Participants get one thousand dollars a month for a year 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.240 without any restrictions how to spend the money. Marta has 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.920 been investing half of the money on something very special 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.440 for her. But before we find out what that is, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:13.520 we're gonna meet Michaela, another program participant. Here's Latino USA 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.639 Senior producer Marta Martinez once again with the story. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:27.720 It's Saturday morning and we're in the car with Mikaela. 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:32.200 We're not using Mikaela's last name because she's undocumented. The 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:34.879 Big LEAG program didn't ask about legal status in its 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:38.320 application because the city wanted to broaden access as much 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.719 as possible. This is also the first time Mikaela has 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:47.160 ever gotten any aid from the government. We're heading from 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.600 South la where she lives, to a food bank in 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.760 Korea Town. Mikhaela's landlord is driving. 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:55.800 TIEMP. 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:03.359 Mikhayela is fifty one years old and she doesn't have 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.600 a car, so she can only go to the food 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:08.520 bank whenever her landlord can drive her. She says, you 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:12.480 wouldn't be able to afford a n uber. Mikaela sits 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:14.919 in the front and most of her face is covered 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.160 by a black face mask, but her eyes are delicately 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.960 made up with a rose colored eyeshadow and a touch 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:24.040 of glitter. She has a curly mop of blonde hair, 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.720 almost white at the top. Her nails are painted light pink, 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:29.360 but they look worn down. 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:34.359 Rat They are rat pour k as the pis fasi. 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:44.240 Mikhaela says she's very thrifty. In this country, people spend 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:46.879 money on things they don't need, but she can't afford 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:49.720 to do that. Mikhayela is a siamstress and a single 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:53.359 mother of two. The majority of Bigley participants are single 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:57.040 mothers like her. She came to the US almost thirty 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:59.960 years ago from Mexico with the father of her two boys, 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:05.600 but he was physically abusive and they soon separated. Mikaela 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:08.800 says he has never provided any support for her sons, 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:10.200 who are now in their twenties. 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:17.119 Mos Con La Costa for Que Malaga. 0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:19.920 Mikaela relies on her sewing, but it's not a well 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.680 paying job. On a good week, she says she makes 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:26.320 six hundred dollars, but that means working every day from 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:30.359 seven am till eleven pm. She rents two rooms in 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:33.320 her landlord's house, one for her and one for her 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.880 oldest son, who is twenty five years old. She pays 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:39.160 eight hundred and fifty dollars a month for the rooms, 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:42.120 and she's been using most of her program money on rent. 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:47.040 She's also been supporting her youngest son through college in Merced, California. 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.720 He got a scholarship, but it didn't fully cover his tuition, 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:54.080 so Mikaela sent him about five hundred dollars a month 0:21:54.240 --> 0:21:56.600 to pay for his classes and other things he needed, 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.200 depending on how much she was able to make sewing 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:02.120 or how much she could borrow from friends and acquaintances. 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:04.879 Listen dian Naervio's with Hi. 0:22:07.160 --> 0:22:10.560 Mikhaela always worried would she be able to make ends meet, 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:14.000 and it wasn't just a tuition. He always needed something. 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:20.719 Then God tample Mansa Kokoopoo pastades Kokopo cal Setenis. 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:25.960 He texted her saying he needed soap, toothpaste, socks. As 0:22:25.960 --> 0:22:28.320 a single mom, Mikaela has to figure out ways to 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:30.880 save money all the time, and that's how she found 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:34.200 out about this food bank. She's been going there for 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:42.000 ten years now. Nikayla comes every two or three weeks 0:22:42.040 --> 0:22:44.240 to stock up for her and her son, and for 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:47.000 fifty dollars, she can get as much food as she wants. 0:22:48.560 --> 0:22:50.000 Fat In the end, you say that. 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:53.760 Mikhaela. 0:22:54.840 --> 0:22:57.879 Mikaela got her twelve and last cash transfer from the 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:01.360 Big Lee program this month. She was among those who 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:04.920 were first randomly selected to participate. The City of Los 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:08.159 Angeles partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to manage the 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:11.440 selection process, as well as all other research aspects of 0:23:11.520 --> 0:23:15.760 the program. Angelina's were able to apply either online or 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:18.840 in person during a period of ten days. In the 0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:20.600 fall of twenty twenty one, we. 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:23.200 Had two hundred and fifty thousand people visit our website 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:26.240 and in the air little over fifty thousand people applied 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:26.919 for the program. 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:31.120 This is Abigail Marquez, the General manager of the Community 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:34.480 Investment for Families Apartment with the City of Los Angeles. 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:37.800 Her unit is in charge of implementing the Big leap program. 0:23:39.920 --> 0:23:42.800 Abigail says that the fact that over fifty thousand people 0:23:42.880 --> 0:23:48.399 applied illustrates how big the need is. Some ten thousand 0:23:48.480 --> 0:23:52.320 people who applied actually didn't respond when the program informed 0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:54.080 them that they had been randomly selected. 0:23:54.600 --> 0:23:58.639 People distrust government, and so people felt like, this is 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:00.840 a catch. How is it that that we're getting one 0:24:00.880 --> 0:24:01.600 thousand dollars. 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:02.399 It's unheard of. 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:03.879 It really is unheard of. 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:08.800 Another five thousand out of fifty thousand didn't fulfill the 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:12.280 selection criteria, that is being an adult living in the 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:15.280 city of Los Angeles under the twenty twenty one federal 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:19.720 poverty line and having at least one child that means 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:22.480 making less than eighteen thousand dollars a year for a 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:26.520 family of two. Because of the people who either didn't 0:24:26.560 --> 0:24:30.359 respond or didn't qualify in the first selection round, some 0:24:30.520 --> 0:24:33.239 participants got their first CATSH trend first a little bit 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:36.760 earlier than others, about a couple of months apart. That's 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:39.159 why Marta, the woman we met at the beginning of 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:43.119 the show, still has some deposits left, but Mikaela doesn't. 0:24:43.760 --> 0:24:47.600 The pandemic created an opportunity for us to do something 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:50.159 different as local government in the way that we were 0:24:50.240 --> 0:24:54.560 responding to the needs and challenges, primarily those from communities 0:24:54.600 --> 0:24:57.840 of color. But I think it's an opportunity to reflect 0:24:57.960 --> 0:25:00.520 on how we could do things differently moving forward. 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.320 In early twenty twenty, Mikhaela was working at a textile 0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:08.359 factory and. 0:25:08.400 --> 0:25:16.080 La Pandemias and dicaol Mundo and Sima servajo mebermas carrillos. 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:19.240 With a pandemic. The world fell apart for her. She 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:22.200 got COVID, she lost her job. Then she started sewing 0:25:22.280 --> 0:25:24.359 face masks on her own to get. 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:35.560 By janoomere no poor mir Pergatia, Bantos, dress, Santiacae, Sali, 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:37.920 Jello so Caveza. 0:25:38.400 --> 0:25:41.520 She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep. Her head hurts so 0:25:41.720 --> 0:25:45.760 much she felt her eyes would fall out. She had takikardias. 0:25:46.160 --> 0:25:48.680 Her heart started pounding in the middle of the night, 0:25:49.280 --> 0:25:52.159 and she was falling deeper and deeper into dead. To 0:25:52.280 --> 0:25:53.480 help her youngest son. 0:25:53.640 --> 0:25:58.399 For Doma Trasco Noja. 0:26:00.040 --> 0:26:02.440 He was going to graduate from college soon and she 0:26:02.520 --> 0:26:06.840 felt she couldn't leave him hanging. It was actually her 0:26:06.920 --> 0:26:09.560 youngest son who found out about the Big Clip program. 0:26:09.800 --> 0:26:13.480 See applicat meal Manzueles Punao. 0:26:16.280 --> 0:26:19.080 He helped her fill out the online application because Mikaela 0:26:19.280 --> 0:26:22.600 barely speaks English and she's not great with technology either. 0:26:23.560 --> 0:26:26.000 Six months later, she got a message from the City 0:26:26.040 --> 0:26:29.080 of Los Angeles. She had already forgotten what it was about, 0:26:29.320 --> 0:26:32.080 but she went to the government office anyway, and then 0:26:32.320 --> 0:26:34.160 they gave her a debit card tray. 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:44.879 So inclusive Chao yallow a ladio is positively di Jossi. 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:49.240 Mikaela couldn't believe it. At first. She thought she was 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:51.760 going to have to work in exchange for the cash, 0:26:52.080 --> 0:26:54.280 and she worried about how she would combine that with 0:26:54.400 --> 0:26:57.280 her sewing. When she found out that she didn't need 0:26:57.359 --> 0:26:59.879 to do anything, just use the money as she needed, 0:27:00.400 --> 0:27:01.760 she thought she was going to pass. 0:27:01.720 --> 0:27:04.760 Out semi Yeah, not a lass. 0:27:06.560 --> 0:27:13.280 Like you in this difficult tekastoid omega manalo sayula milan. 0:27:13.680 --> 0:27:17.119 For someone who's poor, Mikhaila says, one thousand dollars a 0:27:17.240 --> 0:27:23.160 month is a lot of money. She closed her eyes 0:27:23.240 --> 0:27:25.720 and said, now I have to give it my own. 0:27:30.280 --> 0:27:32.800 The City of Los Angeles has invested more than thirty 0:27:32.880 --> 0:27:36.400 six million dollars into the Big Lee program. The city 0:27:36.440 --> 0:27:39.679 is tapping money from its general fund, which also finances 0:27:39.760 --> 0:27:44.760 it's public safety and infrastructure, among other services. And all 0:27:44.840 --> 0:27:48.600 of that gets funded through taxes, fines, and other fees 0:27:48.800 --> 0:27:53.760 local government collects. This year, for example, LA's general fund 0:27:53.960 --> 0:27:57.159 has a budget of almost eight billion dollars, and so 0:27:57.320 --> 0:28:01.520 the Bigley program is barely making a dent. At the 0:28:01.560 --> 0:28:03.879 heart of the program is the idea that there are 0:28:03.960 --> 0:28:06.840 no rules or guidance on how to spend the money. 0:28:09.880 --> 0:28:12.080 Here's Abigail Marquez again from the city. 0:28:12.760 --> 0:28:16.359 I fundamentally believe that if we remove barriers from people 0:28:16.480 --> 0:28:20.480 to access programs and we empower them to make decisions 0:28:20.560 --> 0:28:23.800 for themselves, they are in the best position to make 0:28:23.880 --> 0:28:28.359 those decisions. Oftentimes, in my opinion, government is overly prescriptive. 0:28:28.960 --> 0:28:31.560 We have too many requirements, too many rules. 0:28:32.040 --> 0:28:35.240 So far, data the city has collected shows that participants 0:28:35.280 --> 0:28:37.920 are spending the money on covering their basic needs. 0:28:38.560 --> 0:28:41.200 Many are spending the money on helping to cover their 0:28:41.240 --> 0:28:44.600 rent costs. Thirty four percent of our participants are spending 0:28:44.640 --> 0:28:48.080 money on food and groceries. They're not spending money on 0:28:48.400 --> 0:28:51.560 purchasing a new car or anything that's lavish. 0:28:56.200 --> 0:28:59.280 We could say that there's a new wave of guaranteeing 0:28:59.360 --> 0:29:03.080 come program, and probably the one that initiated it and 0:29:03.440 --> 0:29:06.080 got a lot of media attention was the one Michael 0:29:06.160 --> 0:29:09.120 Tobs started when he became the mayor of Stockton, a 0:29:09.200 --> 0:29:12.680 city of over three hundred and twenty thousand people in California, 0:29:12.720 --> 0:29:13.520 a central body. 0:29:14.640 --> 0:29:16.520 I told my staff to look at like, how are 0:29:16.560 --> 0:29:18.800 we going to get rid of poverty? At art meet 0:29:19.400 --> 0:29:21.880 and they came back with this idea of giving people money, 0:29:22.440 --> 0:29:24.320 And honestly, at first I was a little bit nervous. 0:29:24.640 --> 0:29:28.479 It felt very bold and very radical, a little bit 0:29:28.480 --> 0:29:29.440 of a crazy idea. 0:29:30.040 --> 0:29:32.760 The program started in twenty nineteen and it gave one 0:29:32.840 --> 0:29:35.680 hundred and twenty five people five hundred dollars a month 0:29:35.880 --> 0:29:36.560 for two years. 0:29:37.200 --> 0:29:40.160 So Stockton is very important because it was the first 0:29:40.480 --> 0:29:43.720 city led or mayor led pilot in the US. 0:29:44.040 --> 0:29:47.400 This is Juliana bi Dada Nure, a political philosopher and 0:29:47.480 --> 0:29:50.600 the faculty director of the Stanford Basic Income Lab. 0:29:51.040 --> 0:29:55.240 After one year into the program, people reported feeling less stressed, 0:29:55.800 --> 0:29:59.040 there was an uptick in employment, and also people spend 0:29:59.080 --> 0:29:59.880 the money wisely. 0:30:00.320 --> 0:30:03.600 Juliana is from friends and the concept of universal basic 0:30:03.680 --> 0:30:07.200 income or UBI can actually be traced back to the 0:30:07.280 --> 0:30:11.080 French Revolution in the late eighteenth century with William Thomas 0:30:11.200 --> 0:30:12.880 Pain's idea of a dividend. 0:30:13.720 --> 0:30:16.520 Essentially the idea that we are all owed a share 0:30:16.960 --> 0:30:20.720 of what we own in common. Could be natural resources, 0:30:21.160 --> 0:30:23.080 you could frame it as the wealth of the earth, 0:30:23.680 --> 0:30:25.920 but it's also connected with the idea that we are 0:30:26.000 --> 0:30:28.560 all owe a share of the wealth generated by previous 0:30:28.600 --> 0:30:29.960 generations and. 0:30:30.680 --> 0:30:34.360 The wealth that we could create as current generations. A 0:30:34.440 --> 0:30:38.360 similar idea became popular among neo liberals as well, who 0:30:38.480 --> 0:30:41.280 saw basic income as a tool to keep the government 0:30:41.360 --> 0:30:45.120 out of people's lives. Even President Richard Nixon in the 0:30:45.200 --> 0:30:48.440 late nineteen sixties pushed for a reform of the national 0:30:48.480 --> 0:30:52.200 welfare system that actually sounded pretty similar to providing a 0:30:52.240 --> 0:30:52.920 basic income. 0:30:53.720 --> 0:30:57.320 And that is why tonight, I therefore propose that we 0:30:57.520 --> 0:31:02.000 abolish the present welfare system and that we adopted its 0:31:02.040 --> 0:31:05.840 place a new family assistance system. 0:31:09.000 --> 0:31:12.680 Nixon's Family Assistance program aimed to give families of four 0:31:13.160 --> 0:31:17.240 sixteen hundred dollars a year, which today it would amount 0:31:17.280 --> 0:31:21.200 to a little over thirteen thousand dollars, so actually pretty 0:31:21.240 --> 0:31:23.760 similar to the amount of money participants of the Los 0:31:23.760 --> 0:31:29.520 Angeles program got this year. But Senators rejected Nixon's plan twice. 0:31:30.160 --> 0:31:33.960 It was a complex process, but basically Republicans thought the 0:31:34.040 --> 0:31:38.760 program was too expensive and expensive, and Democrats thought it 0:31:38.920 --> 0:31:43.160 wasn't enough money for the families. Around the same time, 0:31:43.440 --> 0:31:47.600 in the nineteen sixties and seventies, universal basic income also 0:31:47.680 --> 0:31:51.600 became a central fight for feminists. They saw UBI as 0:31:51.680 --> 0:31:54.280 a way to pay for all the unpaid care work 0:31:54.360 --> 0:31:56.840 that women were doing at home, and a tool to 0:31:56.920 --> 0:32:00.200 rebalance the power relationships between men and women men. 0:32:01.640 --> 0:32:05.120 There's also a really interesting origin that comes from Martin 0:32:05.240 --> 0:32:08.200 Luther King, the Black Panther Party, and also the National 0:32:08.240 --> 0:32:10.040 Welfare Rights Organization. 0:32:10.120 --> 0:32:13.760 That was an organization for mostly by black matters, and. 0:32:14.200 --> 0:32:17.120 The idea here was really to ensure that no one 0:32:17.760 --> 0:32:20.520 was reduced to live in poverty without access to the 0:32:20.560 --> 0:32:23.480 means of survival that was supposed to be key to 0:32:23.680 --> 0:32:25.000 the notion of economic freedom. 0:32:25.480 --> 0:32:29.480 More recently, UBI has become very popular in Silicon Valley 0:32:29.720 --> 0:32:33.160 among tech millionaires who see this concept almost as a 0:32:33.280 --> 0:32:37.760 magic wand that could quote unquote disrupt the social welfare 0:32:37.800 --> 0:32:42.440 system and fix all social problems, some problems created by 0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:46.720 these millionaires themselves. For example, Jack Dorsey, the founder of 0:32:46.800 --> 0:32:50.880 Twitter donated fifteen million dollars to a mayor's coalition created 0:32:50.920 --> 0:32:51.960 by the Mayor of Stockton. 0:32:52.800 --> 0:32:57.920 Now, the tendency of billionaires to like quick fixes that 0:32:58.080 --> 0:33:00.720 do not really address the root causes of inequalities and 0:33:00.760 --> 0:33:04.840 poverty makes them really sub optimal advocates of basic income, 0:33:05.160 --> 0:33:07.560 because I think the idea of basic income is really 0:33:07.640 --> 0:33:11.360 one of building a very robust safety net. It's not 0:33:11.560 --> 0:33:15.000 one that makes a system that produces so much inequality 0:33:15.640 --> 0:33:16.560 work a little better. 0:33:17.560 --> 0:33:21.960 There are ubi supporters coming from very different political backgrounds, 0:33:22.440 --> 0:33:26.560 but there are also many critics. Probably the most common 0:33:26.640 --> 0:33:29.800 criticism is the belief that if you give people money, 0:33:30.280 --> 0:33:31.240 they will stop working. 0:33:31.680 --> 0:33:34.760 There is considerable evidence that people want to work and 0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:38.360 will work when given the transfer, and throughout the world 0:33:38.640 --> 0:33:41.520 with cashtroms for our programs, what we've seen is that 0:33:41.680 --> 0:33:45.280 people use the cash to retrain, to get a driver's license, 0:33:45.440 --> 0:33:48.720 to pay for childcare, to do what is needed to 0:33:48.840 --> 0:33:50.600 do to remove barriers to employment. 0:33:51.400 --> 0:33:55.960 Another criticism targets the universal aspect of this concept. Why 0:33:56.080 --> 0:33:57.680 give money to people who don't need it? 0:33:58.240 --> 0:34:02.000 Universality is really key to this sigmatized public assistance. We've 0:34:02.120 --> 0:34:05.719 created this system that is so stigmatizing that a lot 0:34:05.800 --> 0:34:09.520 of eligible people end up not claiming benefits, in part 0:34:09.640 --> 0:34:13.400 by fear of being demonized as welfare queens and benefits scrounders. 0:34:14.080 --> 0:34:15.920 So these stereotypes are very damaging. 0:34:16.719 --> 0:34:20.160 A quick note here, the pilot programs that have launched 0:34:20.239 --> 0:34:23.800 in recent years across the US are not fully universal. 0:34:24.120 --> 0:34:26.719 They all target groups in need, like people living in 0:34:26.800 --> 0:34:30.239 poverty or above a certain age. But they're similar to 0:34:30.440 --> 0:34:33.520 UBI in that they provide a stable income and don't 0:34:33.600 --> 0:34:36.400 have any restrictions on how people can use the cash. 0:34:37.800 --> 0:34:40.960 And then, of course there's the criticism that UBI is 0:34:41.160 --> 0:34:44.759 too expensive. It's undeniable that these programs cost a lot 0:34:44.800 --> 0:34:48.280 of money, But Julianna says there are other important social 0:34:48.400 --> 0:34:49.040 costs in. 0:34:49.080 --> 0:34:55.160 The equation poverty object Poverty costs enormously to communities. You 0:34:55.320 --> 0:34:58.880 just have to think about the costs in terms of health, 0:34:59.000 --> 0:35:02.239 in terms of crime, of the clustering of this advantage 0:35:02.280 --> 0:35:05.880 that happens when people start losing an income, losing their homes, 0:35:06.520 --> 0:35:10.200 and then it becomes extremely costly on the long run. 0:35:10.360 --> 0:35:12.439 I mean, of course, the human cast, the moral cost 0:35:12.600 --> 0:35:15.359 is the most important one, but even in monetary terms, 0:35:15.440 --> 0:35:23.120 it's it's a disaster. So once you start building that 0:35:23.320 --> 0:35:25.640 in and once you start thinking about the fact that 0:35:25.719 --> 0:35:29.160 actually giving people cash can even grow the economy, you 0:35:29.320 --> 0:35:31.359 realize that it's not as bad as it looks. 0:35:50.120 --> 0:35:51.920 Royal Hanna's Taipei. 0:35:54.480 --> 0:35:57.359 We're on a busy block on Manchester Avenue in South 0:35:57.520 --> 0:36:01.120 LA with Martha, the woman from Andudas met earlier, and 0:36:01.239 --> 0:36:02.160 her daughter Lizzie. 0:36:02.520 --> 0:36:05.279 I'm pretty sure my light slow and they're like, berg, 0:36:05.440 --> 0:36:06.040 think it not. 0:36:06.600 --> 0:36:11.360 In left leg, Martha shows me this big empty space 0:36:11.600 --> 0:36:18.719 with very tall ceilings and freshly painted white walls. This 0:36:19.160 --> 0:36:21.600 is how Martha has been investing the other half of 0:36:21.680 --> 0:36:24.360 the big leap money. She's about to open her own. 0:36:24.239 --> 0:36:26.640 Store, well La Mayoria de Cosa so on. 0:36:28.160 --> 0:36:34.280 The Martha will sell mostly clothes, but also toys, shoes, 0:36:34.600 --> 0:36:38.799 women's accessories. She buys these carded palettes from big retailers 0:36:38.880 --> 0:36:41.880 like Target or Costco, and then she sells the items 0:36:41.920 --> 0:36:44.680 at an affordable price in her neighborhood. 0:36:47.280 --> 0:36:48.000 And musium. 0:36:51.360 --> 0:36:54.200 Martha is excited about opening the store, but when she 0:36:54.320 --> 0:36:56.960 thinks about having to make rent for the space and 0:36:57.239 --> 0:37:00.319 about starting something new, she gets a little scared too. 0:37:01.480 --> 0:37:04.960 Her husband, Freddy isn't fully on board with Marthas and Davers. 0:37:05.480 --> 0:37:09.439 He thinks it's a huge financial risk. Her daughters aren't 0:37:09.520 --> 0:37:12.480 very supportive either, because they aren't used to her mother 0:37:12.560 --> 0:37:15.640 spending so much time out of the house. But none 0:37:15.680 --> 0:37:26.680 of that stops Marta la. It's a dream Martha has 0:37:26.719 --> 0:37:29.160 had for a long time, but she was too busy 0:37:29.280 --> 0:37:32.920 taking care of her daughters. She feels confident about taking 0:37:33.000 --> 0:37:35.760 this step because she knows how to run a store. 0:37:36.120 --> 0:37:38.520 She's done it before me Mama. 0:37:40.320 --> 0:37:42.680 Tormented the pas of Pecanos. 0:37:43.920 --> 0:37:47.680 Back in Onduras, Marta studied marketing in college. In the 0:37:47.719 --> 0:37:50.440 small city of Choloma in the northwest of the country, 0:37:50.920 --> 0:37:54.840 her mother opened a mini market. The family business started small, 0:37:55.080 --> 0:37:58.320 selling groceries, and Martha helped her mother manage the store. 0:37:59.040 --> 0:38:01.800 She loved it and she was good at it. The 0:38:01.920 --> 0:38:04.680 business grew and the family soon owned three stores. 0:38:05.360 --> 0:38:11.720 Sstaalas Jimmy Mama's Diversifico muchosun Negosha followed Exito Total. 0:38:12.320 --> 0:38:15.799 When criminal gangs killed her two brothers, Marta and her 0:38:15.840 --> 0:38:21.000 mother decided to close the businesses. And when Marta left Ondudas, 0:38:21.160 --> 0:38:24.080 her dream of following in her mother's steps became more 0:38:24.239 --> 0:38:28.279 and more distant. When the pandemic hit and Freddi lost 0:38:28.320 --> 0:38:31.520 his job and then injured his hand. The family was 0:38:31.640 --> 0:38:34.600 left without a stable source of income for many months. 0:38:35.360 --> 0:38:38.000 They barely survived on the three to four hundred dollars 0:38:38.040 --> 0:38:41.280 Freddy was able to make every week with spontaneous gigs. 0:38:42.480 --> 0:38:44.680 Marta was trying to find ways to help keep the 0:38:44.760 --> 0:38:48.600 family afloat. She applied for the weekly program, but she 0:38:48.680 --> 0:38:50.200 also got creative at home. 0:38:50.760 --> 0:38:56.320 Al Principean Kosalski Missi hasi wan the hand of Kenaiann 0:38:56.400 --> 0:38:57.360 Proveecho Mahenka. 0:38:58.040 --> 0:39:00.720 At first, she was giving away toll is her daughters 0:39:00.760 --> 0:39:05.480 didn't use anymore, using platforms like Facebook. Then people started 0:39:05.560 --> 0:39:13.800 offering her money for them and and that experience revived 0:39:13.840 --> 0:39:18.879 her dream. So when she got selected for the Big 0:39:18.960 --> 0:39:22.160 Ley program, she knew she had to invest the money wisely. 0:39:28.560 --> 0:39:33.640 Jeans closes. 0:39:34.200 --> 0:39:36.640 She could have spent the money on shoes or clothes 0:39:36.719 --> 0:39:40.960 for herself and her daughters, but that would have been it. Instead, 0:39:41.120 --> 0:39:44.200 Marta decided to buy merchandise and then sell it to 0:39:44.360 --> 0:39:56.640 generate a profit. Martha is unfolding clothes and hanging them 0:39:56.719 --> 0:40:01.040 on a circular hangar, being busy makes Marta feel good. 0:40:01.600 --> 0:40:06.120 It's like therapy, she says. Well, she organizes sneakers and 0:40:06.280 --> 0:40:09.680 Ellie caps on a long white plastic table. Martha gets 0:40:09.719 --> 0:40:19.680 a video calls it's Martha's mother calling from Honduras. Her 0:40:19.760 --> 0:40:23.839 name is Martha as well. Moving the phone around, MARTA's 0:40:23.880 --> 0:40:24.839 her mother the new. 0:40:24.760 --> 0:40:27.279 Space, Mama r. 0:40:36.200 --> 0:40:39.080 Martha's mother recommends her not to drill any holes on 0:40:39.160 --> 0:40:42.120 the walls because she might not get her deposit back today. 0:40:42.200 --> 0:40:45.640 She has to leave the space. Martha actually borrowed money 0:40:45.680 --> 0:40:48.640 from her mother and some other family members in Hondudas 0:40:48.680 --> 0:40:49.799 to open the store. 0:40:51.760 --> 0:40:52.240 Grandmos. 0:40:55.160 --> 0:40:57.839 Martha's mother tells her she has a gift that God 0:40:57.960 --> 0:41:07.279 gave her. And look at you're a business woman, her 0:41:07.360 --> 0:41:11.799 mother tells her, as she is, Mamma the. 0:41:11.840 --> 0:41:12.239 Way I am. 0:41:12.239 --> 0:41:17.600 Martha tells her mother she's gonna call her later because 0:41:17.640 --> 0:41:19.640 she needs to call a client who wants to buy 0:41:19.719 --> 0:41:23.239 some gifts. They talk every day, often more than once. 0:41:26.160 --> 0:41:26.640 By a mom. 0:41:27.560 --> 0:41:29.680 I asked Marta if she already has a name in 0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:31.160 mind for her store. 0:41:32.920 --> 0:41:47.000 The one outlet, the one and honor as a your 0:41:47.160 --> 0:41:49.240 daddy was Sonya Looras. 0:41:50.680 --> 0:41:53.960 Martha says she would love to name the store dubone outlet. 0:41:54.960 --> 0:41:57.520 The one is her mother's last name, and she wants 0:41:57.560 --> 0:42:00.840 to honor her, a strong, bold woman who worked a 0:42:00.880 --> 0:42:04.040 lot and was also a dreamer, just like Martha. 0:42:10.280 --> 0:42:13.360 Coming up on Latino USA. We go to Martha's grand 0:42:13.480 --> 0:42:17.520 opening and we asked, what's the future of guaranteed income 0:42:17.600 --> 0:42:19.080 programs in the United States? 0:42:19.719 --> 0:42:21.480 Stay with us, not the ys. 0:42:34.800 --> 0:42:38.040 Hi, Latino USA. My name is Magali garciaflex. I grew 0:42:38.120 --> 0:42:40.640 up along the US Mestical border in Laredo, Texas. The 0:42:40.719 --> 0:42:43.480 first time I started listening to Latino USA was in 0:42:43.560 --> 0:42:45.800 the fall of twenty fourteen. I had just started a 0:42:45.880 --> 0:42:48.280 new job at Providence College, and I turned to Latino 0:42:48.400 --> 0:42:50.920 USA as both material for class, but also as a 0:42:50.960 --> 0:42:54.040 way to feel closer to home. The familiar voices, especially 0:42:54.120 --> 0:42:57.160 the trans languaging between English and Spanish, and the topics 0:42:57.200 --> 0:42:59.600 that really resonated with me are what made me feel 0:42:59.640 --> 0:43:01.360 like I know, USA was so right. 0:43:01.280 --> 0:43:02.200 And so special for me. 0:43:02.360 --> 0:43:03.879 Seal complex, here's too many more. 0:43:07.200 --> 0:43:08.000 Hey, we're back. 0:43:08.600 --> 0:43:11.759 Before the break, we saw how Marta and Michaela, two 0:43:11.840 --> 0:43:16.920 participants of Los Angeles's Guaranteed Income program, are spending the 0:43:17.000 --> 0:43:19.719 one thousand dollars they're getting every month for one year. 0:43:20.640 --> 0:43:23.440 You know, USA senior producer Marta Martinez is going to 0:43:23.480 --> 0:43:26.080 pick up the story from here, Ola. 0:43:31.160 --> 0:43:37.879 Today is the grand opening of Martha's store. I can't 0:43:37.920 --> 0:43:42.160 even recognize the space. It's now so full of clothes, toys, 0:43:42.560 --> 0:43:46.000 home supplies. By the window, there's a display for Saint 0:43:46.040 --> 0:43:49.800 Valentine's Day, full of hearts and stuffed animals. I noticed 0:43:49.800 --> 0:43:52.720 that Marta didn't follow her mother's advice, and she drilled 0:43:52.880 --> 0:43:56.239 two giant racks on the left wall. They're packed with 0:43:56.360 --> 0:44:03.120 T shirts, sweaters, jeans. She's going all in. Hello, ladies, 0:44:04.400 --> 0:44:10.520 how are you today. MARTA's daughters, Lizzie and Sophia are 0:44:10.600 --> 0:44:14.120 also here, and they're dressed for the occasion. They each 0:44:14.200 --> 0:44:17.160 wear a big bowl on their hair. Lizzie is covered 0:44:17.239 --> 0:44:20.040 in rainbows, a big rainbow on her chest and a 0:44:20.120 --> 0:44:23.480 rainbow pattern skirt. Sophia has a T shirt with a 0:44:23.600 --> 0:44:25.919 unicorn on the front and on the back. 0:44:27.200 --> 0:44:32.600 Well, yes, Corney, fairly, Fia, oh, Sophia. 0:44:33.320 --> 0:44:36.279 Marta greets everyone who enters the store and answers their 0:44:36.360 --> 0:44:45.960 questions single promise. In the back of the store, there's 0:44:46.040 --> 0:44:51.960 a small table where they're serving natches the fruit. The 0:44:52.040 --> 0:44:54.760 same long plastic table from the first day I visited 0:44:54.800 --> 0:44:57.560 the store is now covered in all kinds of chips 0:44:57.719 --> 0:45:02.000 and sodas for everyone to pick up for free. Sophie 0:45:02.080 --> 0:45:04.040 asks me if I want anything. 0:45:04.080 --> 0:45:07.480 Oh, by the way, we have chips, drinks, whatever, And. 0:45:07.520 --> 0:45:10.800 Then she tells me about what a particular soda is 0:45:10.920 --> 0:45:11.279 made of. 0:45:12.120 --> 0:45:18.600 And it's made of sugar coop And that's. 0:45:21.719 --> 0:45:24.520 More than a store opening. It feels like a neighborhood 0:45:24.560 --> 0:45:29.440 birthday party. And then Martha's next door neighbors sho Gloria 0:45:29.600 --> 0:45:33.080 and Marcus neighbors. 0:45:35.800 --> 0:45:36.240 Welcome. 0:45:36.960 --> 0:45:40.080 They're both tall and thin and here waiting for you. 0:45:40.920 --> 0:45:43.400 Marcus walks slowly and is always joking. 0:45:44.760 --> 0:45:46.320 Nurse is nice. 0:45:46.760 --> 0:45:49.840 Marcus sits and it's some natchos well. His wife Gloria 0:45:50.000 --> 0:45:53.320 browses around. He sits next to two solvador and women 0:45:53.440 --> 0:45:56.840 who don't speak English, but he seems to be enjoying himself. 0:45:58.440 --> 0:45:59.719 Go back in her pressure room. 0:46:02.280 --> 0:46:04.760 Gloria ends up buying a couple of long sleeve shirts 0:46:04.920 --> 0:46:07.200 and a pair of pants. It took a while for 0:46:07.400 --> 0:46:11.160 Martha to have a relationship with Marcus and Gloria. Language 0:46:11.480 --> 0:46:20.480 was a barrier but over time they've become closer. The 0:46:20.560 --> 0:46:23.600 couple sits down its cake and chats with the group 0:46:23.680 --> 0:46:32.080 for a while. It's getting late. While Marcus and Gloria leave, 0:46:32.440 --> 0:46:37.520 Martha gets a call from her mother. Martha moves the 0:46:37.600 --> 0:46:40.480 phone around and shows her mother how full the story is. 0:46:41.560 --> 0:46:52.320 Now the celebration is complete. The City of Los Angeles 0:46:52.440 --> 0:46:54.800 doesn't have hard data yet on the impact of the 0:46:54.840 --> 0:46:58.200 Big Leap program. It'll still take months to analyze what 0:46:58.360 --> 0:47:01.600 happened during the year when partic sipens cutter cash transfers, 0:47:02.080 --> 0:47:07.120 and what happened during the six months after that. But 0:47:07.280 --> 0:47:11.400 Abigail Marquez from La City Government is quite impressed so far, 0:47:11.880 --> 0:47:14.719 even after twenty years working in public administration. 0:47:15.360 --> 0:47:18.800 It's all anecdotal at this point, but we have learned 0:47:19.200 --> 0:47:21.640 that through this program, people are feeling less stress and 0:47:21.760 --> 0:47:25.200 less anxiety. That's allowing households to plan for the future, 0:47:25.239 --> 0:47:27.840 which oftentimes many people take for granted. 0:47:28.520 --> 0:47:32.000 Reports from over twenty other pilot programs across the country 0:47:32.400 --> 0:47:37.560 have shown similar positive results reduced stress levels, improved physical health, 0:47:38.040 --> 0:47:42.560 higher full time employment rates, including the final results from 0:47:42.600 --> 0:47:47.160 the Stockton program, which came out recently. Abigail says Stockton, 0:47:47.239 --> 0:47:48.520 sparked the national movement. 0:47:49.239 --> 0:47:51.880 We have cities for guaranteed income, we have counties for 0:47:52.000 --> 0:47:55.600 guaranteed income, and we're talking about this at the federal level, 0:47:55.719 --> 0:47:58.520 you know, with the President and many of our congressional 0:47:58.600 --> 0:47:59.560 representatives as well. 0:48:00.760 --> 0:48:04.560 The state of California is funding several guaranteed income programs 0:48:04.640 --> 0:48:07.759 for mothers and children, and in the state of New York, 0:48:08.120 --> 0:48:11.920 people are pushing for a similar initiative. In twenty twenty one, 0:48:12.239 --> 0:48:16.640 the Biden administration expanded the Child Independent Tax Credit that 0:48:16.800 --> 0:48:19.839 gave families up to three hundred dollars a month per child. 0:48:20.520 --> 0:48:23.600 They didn't call it guaranteed income, but it was pretty 0:48:23.640 --> 0:48:27.680 similar and it helped cut child poverty in half. For 0:48:27.840 --> 0:48:32.400 many experts, it's clear that guaranteed income programs work. The 0:48:32.520 --> 0:48:36.360 question is how they can strengthen the social welfare system, 0:48:36.840 --> 0:48:40.719 not dismantle it. I shared it with Abigail one of 0:48:40.800 --> 0:48:43.719 the questions that keeps resonating in my head since I 0:48:43.800 --> 0:48:46.840 started reporting on the Big Lead program on what this 0:48:47.040 --> 0:48:50.640 year has been like for Marta and Mikaela and another 0:48:50.760 --> 0:48:51.880 thirty two hundred people. 0:48:54.040 --> 0:48:59.160 They've definitely gotten this economic stability for a year, but 0:48:59.360 --> 0:49:02.799 now are going to stop receiving that, Like, what's going 0:49:02.840 --> 0:49:04.600 to happen to these people? 0:49:05.239 --> 0:49:09.560 So that's you know, that is the unfortunate aspect of 0:49:09.680 --> 0:49:13.440 this work is that we won't really know people are working, 0:49:13.600 --> 0:49:17.640 but the economy is not working for our lowest wage earners. 0:49:18.760 --> 0:49:23.040 I also asked Juliana Bida Lanure from Stanford's Basic Income Lab. 0:49:24.120 --> 0:49:27.319 Yeah, that's such an important question. I worry about this too, 0:49:27.520 --> 0:49:27.719 you know. 0:49:28.000 --> 0:49:31.920 I think people have been incredible by enlarged using the 0:49:32.000 --> 0:49:34.520 cash in ways that put them in a better. 0:49:34.400 --> 0:49:36.000 Position after the program ends. 0:49:36.080 --> 0:49:38.680 But it's still a very big concern because the idea 0:49:38.719 --> 0:49:40.680 of the of the program is not like we give 0:49:40.719 --> 0:49:42.120 you cash for a little while and then you're on 0:49:42.239 --> 0:49:42.600 your own. 0:49:42.680 --> 0:49:43.920 It's actually the opposite of that. 0:49:44.560 --> 0:49:49.080 The idea is we create this robust flaw that will 0:49:49.360 --> 0:49:52.279 ensure that this is guaranteed and you know that you 0:49:52.400 --> 0:49:54.800 will always be able to rely on this. And the 0:49:54.920 --> 0:49:57.200 question is also like what kinds of choices you make 0:49:57.560 --> 0:49:59.239 when that's secured. 0:50:02.080 --> 0:50:05.400 Juliana believes that beyond the hard data that these pilot 0:50:05.440 --> 0:50:09.080 programs will gather on their positive impact, there are bigger 0:50:09.239 --> 0:50:12.480 moral and political questions to consider when thinking about the 0:50:12.600 --> 0:50:13.600 future of UBI. 0:50:14.080 --> 0:50:17.000 It's really about what we owe each other. In wealthy Nasian, 0:50:17.120 --> 0:50:21.440 we have accumulated unprecedented wealth off the backs of workers 0:50:21.520 --> 0:50:24.160 past and present, and so I think it's really time 0:50:24.239 --> 0:50:26.040 to redistribute this wealth more fairly. 0:50:26.640 --> 0:50:30.120 And she wishes that the pandemic helps us think differently 0:50:30.480 --> 0:50:31.520 about emergencies. 0:50:31.960 --> 0:50:35.160 Now we think about cashas like effective, but we continue 0:50:35.200 --> 0:50:38.520 to think about cash as only for emergency situations, but 0:50:38.800 --> 0:50:45.600 not realizing that abject poverty, economic insecurity ah emergencies and 0:50:45.680 --> 0:50:47.399 that we need to fix it now. 0:50:57.160 --> 0:50:59.680 I meet Mikhaela at the red brick home in South 0:51:00.320 --> 0:51:03.719 where she rents two rooms. We walked to the backyard 0:51:03.880 --> 0:51:07.160 where there's a shed she has converted into her sewing workshop. 0:51:08.120 --> 0:51:08.640 The man. 0:51:10.000 --> 0:51:13.280 It's been hard to meet with Mikhaela because she's always working. 0:51:14.360 --> 0:51:17.960 Last night she finished her latest assignment. She sold five 0:51:18.040 --> 0:51:20.080 hundred blouses for two dollars. 0:51:19.840 --> 0:51:24.920 Each Plando in Tregando. 0:51:29.400 --> 0:51:32.480 She was folding clothes until eleven pm the night before. 0:51:33.160 --> 0:51:36.399 She won't be receiving any more cash transfers from Big Leap, 0:51:36.760 --> 0:51:39.839 so she feels she can't say no to any new assignments. 0:51:40.880 --> 0:51:43.960 Mikaela shows me around the tiny well organized. 0:51:43.560 --> 0:51:48.480 Shed connom presta Makina is the makina is tramakina. 0:51:49.080 --> 0:51:52.239 After Mikhayela paid off her son's college debt, she bought 0:51:52.360 --> 0:51:56.239 four second hands sewing machinets. They added up to about 0:51:56.320 --> 0:51:59.160 five thousand dollars and she's still paying for them. 0:52:01.040 --> 0:52:05.920 Reno borgestava, pagandoodiz sala rerenta and ton says yo no 0:52:06.000 --> 0:52:08.319 al cansa and no salad in nero. 0:52:08.880 --> 0:52:10.920 She used to pay one hundred and ten dollars a 0:52:11.040 --> 0:52:14.239 month to rent the machines, but now all she makes 0:52:14.320 --> 0:52:17.279 with her work she keeps, even if it isn't much. 0:52:19.840 --> 0:52:22.560 Mikhaela says that without the help of Big Lip, she 0:52:22.640 --> 0:52:25.480 would never have been able to purchase the sewing machines. 0:52:26.040 --> 0:52:28.160 That's because you always left hand to mouth. 0:52:28.960 --> 0:52:35.080 Doosolo parami san sali loyo yora was. 0:52:40.360 --> 0:52:41.040 Mia yudai. 0:52:42.080 --> 0:52:44.800 This whole year of receiving a stable income was a 0:52:44.880 --> 0:52:48.480 big relief for Mikhaela. She felt she was getting out 0:52:48.480 --> 0:52:51.240 of the hole, that she was finally able to breathe. 0:52:52.520 --> 0:52:55.120 But now that the program is over, she still has 0:52:55.360 --> 0:52:57.000 other problems to worry about. 0:52:57.680 --> 0:53:01.880 Miss Manos komote Otterna. 0:53:02.080 --> 0:53:05.480 Mikaela shows me her hands. She wears two black wrisbands 0:53:05.600 --> 0:53:09.239 after developing carpal tunnel on both hands from so many 0:53:09.360 --> 0:53:13.480 years of sewing and iron clothes. The doctor says she'll 0:53:13.480 --> 0:53:16.640 probably need surgery, but she doesn't have the money to 0:53:16.719 --> 0:53:19.200 pay for the procedure and she can't afford going on 0:53:19.320 --> 0:53:20.320 signif either. 0:53:22.239 --> 0:53:24.880 Independent was. 0:53:26.440 --> 0:53:33.520 Medicina, Mikaela shows me a giant orange bottle full of pills. Chelsea, 0:53:33.600 --> 0:53:37.600 and she's taking a hundred milligram ibuprofen pills to keep going. 0:53:40.080 --> 0:53:42.280 A couple of nights ago, at one in the morning, 0:53:42.760 --> 0:53:45.360 she was in bed and the taki cardia came. 0:53:45.280 --> 0:53:59.000 Back my pega barossolo sinkos wundos verte meat. 0:53:59.440 --> 0:54:02.680 Her heart started racing so hard she could even see 0:54:02.719 --> 0:54:06.040 her nightgown going up and down. She thought her heart 0:54:06.200 --> 0:54:10.280 was going to jump out of her chests. 0:54:10.719 --> 0:54:13.160 Yes and dia perro ci fut. 0:54:15.280 --> 0:54:18.239 It went on for twenty minutes. She thought she was 0:54:18.320 --> 0:54:21.560 going to faint, and she ended up calling an ambulance. 0:54:24.760 --> 0:54:31.720 Talvesi yo talves me pantstres prone. 0:54:34.880 --> 0:54:38.120 Mikhaela wonders if all of this is because of the 0:54:38.160 --> 0:54:42.880 Bigley program ending, but she tells herself that she has 0:54:42.960 --> 0:54:46.800 to move forward and work harder. She does have a dream, 0:54:48.800 --> 0:54:51.960 like Marta. Mikaela wants to open her own small business, 0:54:52.320 --> 0:54:55.760 a sewing workshop. She wants to hire about five people 0:54:56.000 --> 0:54:56.600 to help her. 0:54:58.280 --> 0:55:08.640 Permitted questa adasatamente novi aldiya viorna in Berti and ali 0:55:08.920 --> 0:55:11.960 mi propio peke presita. 0:55:13.480 --> 0:55:16.800 With the Big Lip Program, Mikhaela got one step closer 0:55:17.080 --> 0:55:20.399 to her goal of creating her own business, but she's 0:55:20.440 --> 0:55:30.480 still pretty far away from achieving it. I catch up 0:55:30.520 --> 0:55:33.200 with Marta at her store three days before her next 0:55:33.239 --> 0:55:36.680 Big Lip cash transfer, her second to last. There are 0:55:36.760 --> 0:55:39.759 even more goods now, a small fridge with sodas near 0:55:39.840 --> 0:55:43.120 the entrance, columns of toilet paper piling up in the 0:55:43.160 --> 0:55:43.800 back room. 0:55:46.160 --> 0:55:53.400 The loya vendid contradovoice this fetch i dig grandia. 0:55:54.520 --> 0:55:57.080 There hasn't been a single day when Marta left the 0:55:57.120 --> 0:56:01.520 store without selling anything. Today it's three pm and she's 0:56:01.520 --> 0:56:04.960 already made one hundred and fifty dollars. Marta worried a 0:56:05.040 --> 0:56:07.560 lot about being able to cover rent for the space 0:56:07.719 --> 0:56:10.919 with the store cells because it's twelve hundred dollars a month. 0:56:11.680 --> 0:56:12.560 It's the best person. 0:56:14.840 --> 0:56:16.240 See see. 0:56:18.400 --> 0:56:22.800 See I thank you maday, so he puts, yeah, this 0:56:22.880 --> 0:56:27.040 is excellenteo ya competra marcari yoo mas. 0:56:28.920 --> 0:56:31.759 Martha says she's already made double the rent for this 0:56:31.960 --> 0:56:35.239 month and all the extra money she has invested it 0:56:35.360 --> 0:56:39.240 in new merchandise. Martha only has two more cash deposits 0:56:39.320 --> 0:56:42.279 left from Big Deep, but she says she's not sad 0:56:42.360 --> 0:56:45.600 that the program is ending. Having a steady cash support 0:56:45.880 --> 0:56:48.680 allowed her to do things she always dreamed of, but 0:56:48.920 --> 0:56:51.640 she would have never been able to achieve on her own. 0:56:52.600 --> 0:57:01.759 So on those dollar nomelo u ningun son and now 0:57:01.840 --> 0:57:08.400 that sun Cantida buena de avechalgo Provicio's. 0:57:08.320 --> 0:57:14.400 See that's as at brend she would have never in 0:57:14.520 --> 0:57:18.520 her life had access to twelve thousand dollars otherwise, and 0:57:18.640 --> 0:57:25.120 Marta thinks she's used the money well. When she was 0:57:25.240 --> 0:57:28.000 leaving day to day, she wasn't able to think beyond 0:57:28.280 --> 0:57:30.760 how to get to the end of the month, and 0:57:31.120 --> 0:57:36.120 like Mikaela, that made her physically sick. Once they were 0:57:36.200 --> 0:57:39.040 able to get out of survival mode and keep their 0:57:39.120 --> 0:57:42.919 head above water, that's when they started thinking long term 0:57:43.280 --> 0:57:47.280 and making smart decisions about money. Both Marta and Mikhaela 0:57:47.480 --> 0:57:51.280 had dreams to open their own businesses, businesses that would 0:57:51.320 --> 0:57:54.560 employ other people and contribute to the economic prosperity of 0:57:54.600 --> 0:57:59.000 their communities. But now that they'll stop receiving cash, it's 0:57:59.120 --> 0:58:01.640 not clear what they'll be able to keep up with 0:58:01.800 --> 0:58:09.680 the steady growth They've both decided to keep trying. Martha 0:58:09.760 --> 0:58:13.439 gets to work for herself now, not for others, making 0:58:13.480 --> 0:58:16.200 her own schedule and adapting to her daughters too, and. 0:58:16.280 --> 0:58:18.320 We don't think connecting for snack time. 0:58:18.560 --> 0:58:20.959 Her husband, Freddie, picked up the girls from school early 0:58:21.080 --> 0:58:28.920 today because Sophia isn't feeling well. No, it looks like 0:58:29.080 --> 0:58:32.040 the virus that first made Lizzie sick has been passing 0:58:32.160 --> 0:58:36.560 from one family member to another. The girls and Freddie 0:58:36.960 --> 0:58:39.440 still aren't fully on board with this new life of 0:58:39.520 --> 0:58:40.880 Martha as an entrepreneur. 0:58:42.440 --> 0:58:44.040 Why you don't like here? 0:58:47.120 --> 0:58:50.480 And there's no TV so I can't do anything. 0:58:51.680 --> 0:58:54.440 After school, the girls spend some time at the store 0:58:54.480 --> 0:58:57.320 with Martha, and then they all go home for dinner. 0:58:58.080 --> 0:59:00.200 Martha has no plans to go back to the life 0:59:00.240 --> 0:59:01.000 she had before the. 0:59:01.080 --> 0:59:04.720 Program, unless my belly will get my dad's. 0:59:04.960 --> 0:59:09.040 Sophia looks very pale and her stomach aches. She's far 0:59:09.120 --> 0:59:12.720 from her usual bubbly self, but she'll still make the 0:59:12.800 --> 0:59:16.200 most unexpected comments, like when she's talking about her dad. 0:59:17.240 --> 0:59:22.280 Him and Spanish. I call him Babby in the English, 0:59:23.160 --> 0:59:29.160 as you know, but I've called him sometimes sometimes I 0:59:29.280 --> 0:59:29.880 call him that. 0:59:30.960 --> 0:59:34.880 It's almost five pm. Marta decides that today she's gonna 0:59:34.920 --> 0:59:38.240 close the store early and she's gonna go home and 0:59:38.360 --> 0:59:46.480 take care of her daughters. Yeah, because now she is 0:59:46.600 --> 0:59:47.000 the boss. 0:59:48.560 --> 0:59:49.800 However, s we go about? 0:59:55.160 --> 0:59:55.800 Have you seen? 1:00:18.000 --> 1:00:21.200 This episode was produced by Marta Martinez and edited by 1:00:21.320 --> 1:00:25.440 Daisy Contreras. It was mixed by Stephanie Lebau and Julia Caruso. 1:00:26.080 --> 1:00:29.600 Fact checking for this episode by Monica Morales Garcia. The 1:00:29.760 --> 1:00:36.480 Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Ruzado, Mike Sargent, Miktrri Estrada, Rinaldo, 1:00:36.600 --> 1:00:41.880 Leanos Junior, Patricia Subrand and Elizabeth Loental Torres. Our editorial 1:00:42.000 --> 1:00:45.960 director is Fernande Santos. Our associate engineers are Gabriel La 1:00:46.000 --> 1:00:49.920 Bayez and JJ Carubin. Our marketing manager is Luis Luna. 1:00:50.200 --> 1:00:53.120 Our theme music was composed by Sane Rubinos. I'm your 1:00:53.160 --> 1:00:56.320 host and executive producer Maria J. Josa join us again 1:00:56.400 --> 1:00:58.560 on our next episode. In the meantime, look for us 1:00:58.600 --> 1:01:03.120 on social media. Remember and we'll see you on the 1:01:03.200 --> 1:01:03.640 next one. 1:01:04.040 --> 1:01:11.160 Joe Latino U s A is made possible in part 1:01:11.280 --> 1:01:15.360 by California Endowment building a strong state by improving the 1:01:15.440 --> 1:01:20.000 health of all Californians. The Ford Foundation, working with visionaries 1:01:20.240 --> 1:01:24.200 on the front lines of social change worldwide, and the 1:01:24.320 --> 1:01:27.760 Anni E. Casey Foundation, creates a brighter future for the 1:01:27.880 --> 1:01:32.720 nation's children by strengthening families, building greater economic opportunity, and 1:01:32.840 --> 1:01:34.080 transforming communities.