WEBVTT - U.S.: Where Cash Made All the Difference 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:13.119 Just before the pandemic was about to take hold, the 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:18.599 Magnolia Mother's Trust started dolling out cash. The program in Jackson, Mississippi, 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.079 gives mothers living in subsidized housing a thousand dollars a 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:26.440 month for twelve months, twelve thousand dollars, no strings attached. 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.200 For the couple hundred women selected. The good news came 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.320 by phone. So I said, oh, my goodness, I said, 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:38.440 Issue place, tell me I was selected? Issue laughing. I 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:43.720 was like, stop, you got this sneaker? You sure you 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.559 could the right person. It made me feel goody. It 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:52.400 was a good feeling that my spirit was uplifted. Well. 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:57.520 I was grateful, appreciative cash. It might be the best 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:01.400 and easiest way to help people in need, give them 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:05.039 money and let them spend it however they want and 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.360 for women liked wanted to Johnson, a substitute teacher with 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:12.320 two kids, The call from the Magnolia Mother's Trust couldn't 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:16.720 have come at a better time. When pandemic kid I 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.200 was on a screen break and we weren't able to 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.880 go back to work. So I was like wow. I 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:23.840 was like, I knew I hate the preserves, but then 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:25.399 we didn't know when we go back to work. So 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:29.240 I was beginning to start worrying, and then all of 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.880 a sudden, the same week I was at I got 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.440 a call from mcnodi's most Trust with that great news. 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.880 Before she says she was barely getting by. She made 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:41.160 sixty five dollars a day and was constantly juggling between 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.240 paying her car loans, her life insurance, her other bills. 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:47.080 She had tried to take on a second job in 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.040 the evenings, but couldn't keep up with the physical demands 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.920 of it after teaching all day marches. Needed the extra money. 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.080 I just need the extra mony. I was tryed of juggling. 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:58.760 The pandemic could have stretched her even thinner. When schools 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.520 went virtual, she was out of a job. But not 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.320 only did she get a call in March, she'd be 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:08.320 getting monthly cash payments from the Magnolia Mother's Trust. She 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:13.280 eventually qualified for enhanced unemployment benefits to an extra seven 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.919 four dollars a week. With all that money coming in, 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.440 she had enough to pay her bills on time, to 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.840 save to think about moving. Oh, I feel good because 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:24.760 I was able to go ahead and pay everything right 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:27.840 away on time. Just pay everything is it was due 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:30.760 By the end of the year, Duannata had earned thirty 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.000 thou dollars and had saved almost half of it. To 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.480 be honest, the type of money that I was bringing 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.000 in that is the type of income that I really 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.480 will look to heir. During the pandemic, cash was a 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:46.560 surprisingly common and popular antidote to the economic crisis in 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.360 the US, and for people like Dannata, it not only 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.160 helped them stay afloat, it gave them a kind of 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:57.519 financial security and stability they never had before. It was 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:02.280 the best case scenario, but can it be a permanent solution. 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.880 Jobless claims coming in, I mean really jumping from the 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:11.160 week before pretty brutal. Three point to a million records. 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.880 Six point six million Americans filed for unemployment last week. 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.160 Some of you may be asking, where's my money? I 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:22.079 need that one engine. Working women were the worst invested 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:25.840 by the pandemic. Well, now to the billionaire boom. According 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.840 to Bloomberg, super yacht charters are up over three hundred 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.600 and a billionaire was created every twenty six How was 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:37.640 during this pandemic. No, I'm not waiting in line for 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:42.000 COVID test with the public growth, it is time for 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:50.800 a Wealth tax Scan America. Welcome back to the Paycheck. 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:55.960 I'm Rebecca Greenfield. Last week we heard a worst case scenario, 0:03:56.560 --> 0:04:01.560 skyrocketing inequality spiraling out of control. That's what a lot 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.920 of economists thought would happen around the world, and early 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.200 in the pandemic it seemed like that was the path 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.440 the US was headed down. For me, one of the 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:14.680 defining images of spring where those viral photos of car 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:19.000 lines sneaking around food banks two months into this pandemic. 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.360 The strain on some families is that a fever pitch 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.800 with no jobs, no income, no way to pay rent. 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.200 Even putting food on the table is difficult, Like the 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:32.280 lines for free food in New Orleans, Desperation is growing 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.760 by the day. That scenario would have been a continuation 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:40.080 of decades long trends in the US. Despite being one 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.919 of the most equal countries in the world after World 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:46.720 War Two, heading into the pandemic, wealth inequality here had 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:50.760 reached levels not seen in almost a century. Since Night, 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:54.280 the wealthiest one person of Americans have almost tripled their 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:58.120 share of wealth. It was a concerning situation heading into 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.960 the pandemic, and when the virus hit, things looked really bad. 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.600 The economy shut down, millions of people couldn't work, and 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.440 the stock market crashed. It felt a lot like the 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.800 two thousand eight recession, or worse. What in the world 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:16.120 is happening on Wall Street? Two year no yields six 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.760 In the blink of an nazdac, everything and more has 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.279 been completely wiped out. It was the worst day on 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:27.520 Wall Street since the crash of But then something surprising happened. 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:31.680 The government stepped in with a robust policy response, much 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.840 of which was targeted at low and middle income Americans. 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.560 There were multiple rounds of stimulus checks for people making 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.200 seventy five thousand dollars or less. There was enhanced unemployment, 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.960 an extra six hundred dollars per week for anyone out 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.359 of work due to COVID. Small business owners were eligible 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.599 for forgivable loans, and then there was the expanded child 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:54.679 tax credit checks that parents received in the mail every 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:59.000 month for six months. Ben Steveman, the Bloomberg Wealth reporter 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.480 who I spoke to last week, told me that all 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.400 those cash injections give some Americans an amount of wealth 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.520 they've never had before. People were saving the money they're 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:13.200 paying down debt, and that ended up boosting the net 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:17.000 worths of a lot of families in the United States 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.760 who really had never had significant amounts of wealth. You know, 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:24.480 if you look at surveys going back years, a significant 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.960 share of the population, more than a third, say they 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.400 struggled to come up with four dollars in an emergency. 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.040 I mean, there were a lot of people who were 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.760 really cutting it close before the pandemic, and suddenly they 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:38.080 found themselves feeling like they had some financial wherewithal and 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.919 some resources to rely on in an emergency. That child 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.680 tax credit alone was hugely responsible for lifting millions of 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:49.400 children out of poverty. In other words, the COVID crisis 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:54.239 disrupted growing wealth inequality in the US. Now, the question 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:58.840 is can wealth gains for the bottom continue well. Much 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.280 of the government funding was never meant to last beyond 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:06.320 the pandemic, and dozens of US cities cash experiments are underway. 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.160 They're not as widespread as the stimulus or child tax 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.280 credit payments, but they could offer a roadmap for a 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.800 more permanent wealth building tool. My colleague Susan Burfield looks 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.200 at Jackson, Mississippi, where some two hundred low income black 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:23.840 mothers received enough money during the pandemic to sometimes double 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.920 their income. Here she is with the story. In the 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.720 summer and fall of nineteen Tamika Calhoun was going through 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:35.280 a tough time. Everything just started going downhill, Like everything 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.440 if you could go wrong, you did. I was struggling 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.640 to find a job. I would work here and there 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.600 for different um jobs where I'm taking care of someone, 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.720 but it didn't last long because I didn't have transportation. 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:53.160 One day in early January, as she was on her 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.160 way to a new job, her Nissan Morano cut out. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.520 It was six in the morning, dark and she was 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.680 stuck in the middle of the interstate. The police called 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.640 her a tow truck. If she paid two hundred dollars, 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.120 the driver could get the car to her home, but 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:10.840 Tamika was short by the time I came up with 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.080 the money they told me I would need. It was 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.840 fifty dollars a day, and I didn't have it to 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:20.760 need it out, and because I didn't have reliable transportation, 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:24.440 they let me go. Tamica lost her car and her job, 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.400 but then her luck started to change. She found work 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.480 she could do from home, answering calls for apple, making 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:35.240 almost fourteen dollars an hour. It was good timing. She 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:38.120 couldn't have known, but COVID was about to close in 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.640 and right after that, Tamika found out that she'd be 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.240 receiving a thousand dollars a month from the Magnolia Mother's Trust. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.640 It's the first program to simply give cash to low 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:53.840 income Black mothers living in affordable housing. It was started 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:58.520 in meant for the everyday shocks and stresses of trying 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.560 to get by a not enough to give single mother 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.680 some room to breathe, to plan, And on that March 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:10.120 day of Tamika's first thought, it was about all the things, 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.080 the basic things she wanted for her family. I was 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:16.520 thinking about all the things that we needed for the house, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.080 for the kids. They were growing out of their clothes. 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:22.640 I finally was able to get them covers for their 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:25.600 beds because they had the same covers for a long time. 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.400 Just things to clean up with them around the house, 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:32.760 or hair products, personal care products. I was able to 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:37.560 kind of back up on that stuff. They were excited 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.600 because they were looking forward to trying out for different 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.800 things at school that they usually wouldn't be able to 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.280 try out for it because I wouldn't have the funds 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:49.520 to pay for it, and the pandemic quickly changed some 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.960 of her calculations about what her family would need, and 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.720 the extra money proved crucial in the way. She couldn't 0:09:55.720 --> 0:10:00.920 have expected no new after school activities, no vacation. Instead, 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.600 she had to set up her five kids to learn 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:08.120 online at home, so I had to use the money 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.640 is to buy them computers about them death for their 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.200 rooms to make it more structured. They also got the 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.000 new clues she had wanted for them. She got a car, 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:22.079 which opened up all kinds of possibilities, and eventually they 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:25.199 got to Gotlinburg, Tennessee for a night away and it 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:28.320 felt good saving to go on a vacation and not 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:32.160 just using a whole check to pay for a vacation 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:34.880 like we had money in our saving as we were 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:54.400 able to go and actually have fun. The idea behind 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:58.400 the program to MAKA participated in may sound familiar. It's 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:02.640 called a guaranteed income and it's about giving people cash. 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:07.959 Unlike most safety net programs, there's no bureaucracy, no owners requirements. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.600 It's an idea that goes way back, but it was 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:15.880 in when Andrew Yang based his presidential campaign on the 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:19.320 idea that people really began talking about it again. The 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:21.360 first time you heard it, you're like, ha ha, that's 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.800 a gimmick that will never happen. But if you dig 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:25.679 into it, you will find this is not an Andrew 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:29.600 Yang idea, visit Thomas pain idea. This is a Martin 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.760 Luther King idea. And soon this is going to be 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.120 the idea of the American people that takes us all 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:40.000 away into the White House. Then came the pandemic and 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:43.640 the racial justice protests, and it seemed that giving people 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:48.800 cash could be one way to right some economic wrongs. Now, 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:52.760 cities around the country are experimenting with different programs. Some 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.600 are for any resident who lives close to the poverty line. Others, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:01.199 like and Jackson, are specifically from mothers residents of color. Today, 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:05.360 applications open for the much anticipated Breathe program. It is 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:08.960 an l a county guaranteed income program for a thousand residents. 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.280 More than one people in Providence so are the first 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.800 to receive a monthly check four five dollars. A hundred 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:18.000 and fifty households across San Diego County getting a check 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.600 for five hundred dollars today. The Baltimore Young Family Success 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:25.040 Fund will support two hundred young parents between eighteen and 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:29.880 twenty four years old with unconditional cash payments. These experiments, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.040 i'll have two things in common. They provide cash without 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.480 any restrictions, and they want to prove that the money 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:41.240 won't be wasted. Data collected over decades and across the 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.000 world already show that recipients spend the money on the 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.920 things they need most. And since the US government gave 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.920 out a lot of cash during the pandemic, we now 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.040 also have all the data on how those payments helped 0:12:55.120 --> 0:13:00.120 keep people from sliding into poverty. But stereotypes persist and 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.439 critics remain. There's not a lot of trust associated with 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.080 giving money to to the working class. That's Steven Nuniez, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:11.560 a sociologist and economist who's been studying anti poverty programs 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.040 for more than a decade and guaranteed income programs for 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.200 the past three years. He works for the Jane Family 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.240 Institute in New York. There's a sort of assumption that 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:25.559 they're going to misuse the funds. Maybe they'll loaf around 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:27.800 if you don't attach it to some kind of work requirement. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.479 Maybe they'll use it on gambling and drugs and alcohol 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.040 if you don't sort of limited and turn it into 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:37.400 a voucher like with food stamps. None of the literature 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.920 that supports that. The literature basically shows you give people 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:43.880 cash and they use it sorts of the ways that 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.200 you might expect them to use it. To pay off debt, 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.640 to make big purchases, to buy toys and food and 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.959 clothing for their kids. For kids, especially, cash pays dividends 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:58.360 later in life. You know, early intervention when children are 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.800 are young to prevent them from ring up in poverty 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.040 can actually read huge rewards in terms of their long 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.800 term health, in terms of their long term labor market outcomes, 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:12.599 criminal justice involvement and education and so forth. It's the 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.000 quick and easy way to do it. It's very effective. 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:18.400 It can be cost effective. Ayesha Yandoro, who leads the 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:22.120 Magnolia Mother's Trust, came to similar conclusions through her work 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.200 in Jackson. She grew up there, left to earn a 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:30.239 doctorate and community psychology, and then returned after deciding academia 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:33.920 wasn't for her after all. She helped founds bring board 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:40.000 to opportunities to provide services that families and subsidize housing 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.720 actually asked for, like homework help for their kids and 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:47.120 home ownership classes for themselves. When we're talking about families 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.920 that live in extreme poverty, especially in this country, we 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:52.680 never asked them what it is that you want or 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:54.760 what it is that you need. It really is a 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:59.120 hierarchy based on us telling them what they need, what 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.640 their needs are, and it's based on deservingness or ideas 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.600 of deserving this. By though, she had become concerned that 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:10.680 all those programs still weren't helping enough families out of poverty. 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.440 So many of our families talk about homeownership as their 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:16.880 main go for themselves. They talk about the picket this, 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:21.160 and we weren't seeing that happen. Every story that we 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.200 heard was something that could be address with money. No 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.040 one was saying we need more programming. What we were 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:33.280 hearing is, oh, well, I can't get to my job 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.240 because my car isn't working and I have to pay 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:41.120 someone gas money to get me to my job. Or 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:46.320 what we heard was, you know, my daughter matriculated to 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:50.120 the next level of the science there. I'm really excited 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.560 for her. But now that's really stressful because I got 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.920 to figure out the twenty five dollar application fee. As 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:58.960 we were was listening to this and listening to families, 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.040 so they can't really frustrated because I was like, this 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.800 is stuff that can be fixed with money, and not 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.720 a lot of money, like a relatively small amount of money. 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.560 And so I begin research and I'm like, hey, how 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.000 do you give people money? Are you? Sha us Tamika 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:16.800 and a few other women about the idea of just 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:20.480 receiving some cash. She was asking us, I guess because 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.840 it would go to mothers like us, like what would 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.920 we use it for? And you know, do we think 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.400 there should be stipulations that come with it? And us 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:36.520 being so used to think having stipulations, we were like, yeah, 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.440 it should be some stipulation. You know, you shouldn't just 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.280 give it away. Our moms were very clear that they 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.320 did not want to become dependent when it's money. They 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.960 wanted it really to be a springboard. The first year, 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:54.640 it was a lot of even though our mom's love 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.880 and trust us, there was a lot of girl quick playing, 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.520 y'all just not gonna give us money? One to women 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.000 send me It's like, you should this really sounds like 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:05.960 a scam us And I was like, you're right, this 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:09.639 really does sound like a scam, and If anybody else 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:11.960 ever calls you're saying they're going to do this, don't 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:18.200 believe them. You're exactly right. Finding the money to fund 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:22.400 the program, even two years into the pandemic, still isn't easy. 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:26.399 Like almost all of the local guaranteed income experiments across 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:30.480 the country, the Magnolia Mother's Trust depends on philanthropy, not 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.680 public money. Less than one percent of philanthrophic dollars come 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.360 to the South, and of that one percent, less than 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.359 one percent goes to organizations that are run by black women. 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:47.399 Are black people. We have successfully helped us. You're in 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:53.639 a new movement which feels really, really good. And to 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.399 know that we are doing all of that in the 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:03.240 backyard of one of the least progressive states in this 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:06.880 country is pretty dope. In the first year of the program, 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.560 Aisha raised enough money to give twenty mothers a thousand 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.560 dollars a month. I know that for the families that 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.880 we work with, in a lot of instances, poverty has 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:21.879 been systemic, and it's been generational poverty. And I know 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:26.680 that we are disrupting that pattern and saying, Okay, we 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:29.679 see you, trust you know your brilliant, we know you 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.479 have agency we know that you should be allowed to dream, 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.720 just like I'm allowed to dream. Since then, the Magnolia 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.760 Mother's Trust has been able to include about a hundred 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:42.399 women each year, and Aisha has seen just what she 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.800 and lots of others expect to see. When people get 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.600 extra cash during the pandemic, they could pay their rent, 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.560 buy enough food for their families, make sure they had WiFi. 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:56.840 They go about living their lives and they go about 0:18:56.880 --> 0:19:01.160 taking care of business. They get their car repaired, they 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.600 pay off debt, they go back to school, they get 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.879 better jobs because now they actually can't take off work 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.560 because you know, if you're working an hourly job, you 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:13.399 don't have PTO where you can take off work to 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:16.679 go interview for a job. For Tamika, the extra cash 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.439 sort of raised the stakes as it was coming to 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:21.600 an end. She didn't want to go back to life 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.640 on fourteen dollars an hour. I need to be able 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:29.679 to make an income that either matches this or surpass it. 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:32.680 And when I say this, I mean my job plus 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:37.800 the Magnolia Mother's Trust money. So Tamika decided to look 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:41.639 for another career and she found one. I worked for 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:47.400 a company that helps their members become homeowners. So they 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.840 apply with us to get their loan, and what we 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:55.520 do is we give them financial counseling to get them 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:59.080 ready for the home ownership process. It's fulfilling for me 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.800 to know that I helped them achieve their goal, a 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:06.359 goal that I want for myself, so I know how 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:11.160 they feel. Jamika started her new job in November. Didn't 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:13.800 she realized that with her higher salary she was likely 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:17.440 to lose her housing subsidy. She could finally afford to move, 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:20.879 even if she couldn't yet afford to buy. Her family 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.719 left the apartment for a house with a backyard. I 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:26.840 was able to move, and we didn't have to worry 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:31.439 about using the whole paycheck to pay for the first 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:36.240 month's orient or paying the deposit. Not only that, my 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:40.280 kid's dad he ended up finding another job, and now 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:44.560 that he's been at that job, his salary has increased. 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.359 So all of that encouraged us to just want more. 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:05.240 Some of the women who got cash from the Magnolia 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:09.440 Mother's Dress might otherwise have fallen through the cracks. Sharika 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:14.200 Washington had suffered a difficult pregnancy, couldn't work, didn't qualify 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:18.160 for unemployment she was still recovering from an umbilical hernia 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.000 in March when she learned she'd be getting a thousand 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:24.919 dollars a month for the next year. First we was like, 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.240 what's the kid? You know, it's gotta be a kitch somewhere. 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:30.760 What is the kitch? When she found out there was 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:33.920 no catch, Sharika told her kids that she could get 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:36.560 them a treat, a nerf gun for her eight year 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:40.119 old son and for her six year old daughter, her prince. 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:46.760 There's petty. She's into the nail polish and the lip 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:52.520 clouds and the lip baby bracelet and hers than Sharika 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:57.080 got herself a car. It was seventheen hundred. I had 0:21:57.080 --> 0:22:00.520 a two thousand and seven port focused look Gray Little 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:02.879 Doo Biggie And once I get the card, I was 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:06.520 still able to manage the money to bill. You know, 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:09.400 it was the big help. It was a big financial help. 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:12.680 When I talked to Sharika and March, she was about 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.119 to receive the last of the cash. She had just 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:18.240 found a job working in a nursing home, making over 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:20.879 ten dollars an hour. It wasn't as much as she 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:23.600 had hoped to earn, but she was excited all the same. 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:26.760 Can you believe it? Oh my goodness, I want to 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:31.320 two interviews with my daughter, Oh my hip, But I 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:36.040 thought one Monday at seven in the morning. What's twelve worth? 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:41.720 Peace of mind? Some hope. New local programs like the 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:46.280 Magnolia Mother's Trust are starting almost every month. And while 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.840 the idea of cash grants may seem like something reserved 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:54.600 for these small pilot projects funded only by philanthropists, there's 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:57.440 actually a recent example of how to scale this up 0:22:57.440 --> 0:23:02.120 in the US. It's the Child Tech Credit. Families got 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:05.080 up to three dollars a month for each child. The 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:07.840 check just came in the mail. It was one of 0:23:07.920 --> 0:23:12.400 several government funded stimulus programs during the pandemic. I think 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:15.160 the child tax Credit is a perfect example of what 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:18.600 a targeting, guaranteeing and come program will look like at 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:23.399 a federal level. We got a blueprint right there. And 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.600 the only thing we have a blueprint, we have data, 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:30.520 a plethora of data that showed in real time what 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:35.000 both resources meant for families. But the momentum for more 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:40.159 permanent national support has faded. The child tax Credit wasn't extended, 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:44.960 stimulus checks won't becoming again. And for opponents of these 0:23:45.040 --> 0:23:48.720 kinds of programs, the data maybe besides the point, that's 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:52.160 not really what the what the battles are about. Right again, 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:56.439 They're about deserving nous and you know what kind of 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:58.600 safety net we want and what kind of society we 0:23:58.640 --> 0:24:01.919 want to be, And that's a that's an ongoing battle. 0:24:02.480 --> 0:24:09.959 I was not naive to not really understanding how pervasive 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:17.120 ideologies around deservedness really are, and that how we truly 0:24:17.680 --> 0:24:22.560 view poor people within this country, um is that they 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:26.920 deserve to be poor because of behavioral choices, not recognizing 0:24:26.960 --> 0:24:29.520 that they are poor because of systemic choices, because of 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:33.720 policy choices that are put in place, and because of 0:24:33.720 --> 0:24:38.359 policy choices that, if I'm being honest, the majority of 0:24:38.400 --> 0:24:40.760 us aloud to be put in place. And I also 0:24:40.800 --> 0:24:44.480 say this other part that's been hard, and this is 0:24:46.240 --> 0:24:52.080 I think it's the most damning part of poverty. But 0:24:52.119 --> 0:24:54.760 this is also I think a tactic of the system 0:24:54.800 --> 0:24:59.680 of how they work is that because the mainstream narrative 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:03.199 is real about behavioral ships and behavioral changes that need 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:05.680 took her so many of the women that we worked 0:25:05.720 --> 0:25:10.000