Deadline to Apply for $500 Monthly Payments in Just Five Days
The deadline for residents of the city of Evanston, Illinois, to apply for a $500-a-month basic income pilot program is in five days.
The program is slated to begin shortly after the Aug. 29 application deadline.
The payments will last a year under the pilot program.
One hundred and fifty participants will be selected through a lottery system of applicants.
“This guaranteed income program will do so much more than offer $500 per month to 150 residents: it will reimagine, humanize, and strengthen the social safety net; it will also reshape the relationship between people and their government," said Harish Patel, director of the group Economic Security for Illinois.
Eligible applicants include residents of Evanston who are 18-24 years old, over 62 years old, or an "undocumented community member."
To qualify, applicants must also live in a household that makes below or at 250% of the poverty line.
For a one-person household, 250% of the poverty line is $33,975, and for a two-person household, 250% of the poverty line is $45,775.