"In 2022, Yolo County began providing a guaranteed basic income to 67 families with children under age 6 — 90% of them led by single women. It was enough money to raise the families’ incomes one dollar above the California Poverty Measure over a two-year period. Midway through this program, UCD researcher Catherine Brinkley found that depression rates had dropped by 30%, and library visits with children soared by 127%.

While analysis of other projects largely focused on how people spent money and whether they lost or gained jobs, Yolo County and the research team at the University of California, Davis, have taken a different tack: They looked at whether the payments can improve early childhood health and wellness. The survey results show that Yolo County Basic Income Program, or YOBI, could be a model throughout California of a cost-effective, efficient way to address deep child poverty, said Nolan Sullivan, the county director of health and human services."

Read the full story at The Sacramento Bee