Most Americans Support Guaranteed Income. Here's How We Are Working as Mayors to Make It a Reality

On July 15, nearly every parent in America will begin receiving a guaranteed income. Labeled the Child Tax Credit, this $300 per month delivered directly to families mirrors the simplicity of a policy espoused by a range of Americans leaders, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Richard Nixon. The cash is funded and distributed by the government, there are no restrictions on how it can be spent, and no work requirements to receive it.

The CTC is a complete 180 from the punitive, distrustful lens with which social safety net policies have been debated, developed and rolled out in our country for the past four decades—from Ronald Reagan bolstering the racist, sexist (and untrue) trope of a “welfare queen” to the more bipartisan embrace of workfare programs that too often fed into a false narrative of poverty as an ailment of the lazy and entitled.