A B.C. research project gave homeless people $7,500 each — the results were 'beautifully surprising'
HousingSummary
The 2018 joint study, The New Leaf Project, gave $7,500 cash payments to people who are homeless in Vancouver, British Columbia. Researchers checked up on the 115 participants over the course of a year. The participants ranged from 19 to 64 years of age, all of which were homeless for a minimum of six months. Further, the participants were not experiencing mental health issues or serious substance use or abuse issues. At random, 50 participants were chosen to receive the payment. The remaining participants were the control group and did not receive any money. After one year, individuals who are homeless that received money found stable housing in an average of three months, whereas the control group took an average of five months. Overall, the average participant that received money spent “52 percent on food and rent, 15 per cent on other items such as medications and bills and 16 percent on clothes and transportation.” Close to 70 percent of the participants receiving money were food secure after one month and the amount of money being spent on alcohol, cigarettes and drugs decreased by 39 percent. Claire Williams, CEO of Foundations for Social Change, explained that the average annual cost for social and health services for someone that is homeless is $55,000. Using the data from the study, the project resulted in saving $8,100 per person.