The appropriation of $500,000, received from Free Cash

Cambridge Community Foundation and Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee (CEOC)

launched the Rise Up Cambridge initiative. The initiative's goal is to address the growing economic divide and racial inequities in Cambridge through direct cash transfers. The initiative is an investment of $22M in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Cambridge households with children under 21 years of age, earning at or below 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, will receive $500 per month for 18 months. Families are also eligible to receive additional services and wraparound supports through CEOC.

A unique feature of this initiative is that all Cambridge families with children under 21 and with low income are eligible to enroll. The initiative has enrolled a total of 1,921 families, which represents the total number of eligible families. Rise Up Cambridge is one among over 30 guaranteed income initiatives that cities and counties throughout the U.S. are implementing. The COVID-19 pandemic accentuated the existing income divides and made it clear that many Americans are a step away from falling into poverty.

The response from the federal government and philanthropy to the immediate pandemic crisis offered an opportunity to explore guaranteed income as a policy that adds to existing safety net programs to support families with low incomes. For Cambridge families at or below 250% of the federal poverty level, $500 a month has the potential to create significant change.

Cambridge is an incredibly high-cost city, with a median income for married couples with children of nearly $190,000.2 Of Cambridge’s 47,777 households, 1,898 qualify for the Rise Up Cambridge initiative.

Of these families, 43% are headed by single mothers, and 44% are at or below the FPL.3 In June 2023, the sponsors of Rise Up Cambridge selected MDRC to lead an evaluation of its initiative.4 The main objectives that Rise Up Cambridge seeks through this effort are to: inform policy change, (2) advance Cambridge anti-poverty practice, and (3) increase knowledge/understanding of cash transfer programs.

As detailed in MDRC’s proposal, the Rise Up Cambridge study will examine how these cash payments help residents with low incomes, how the money is utilized, and what are the benefits from the cash transfers. This project will use a mixed-methods approach to quantify outcomes of the initiative and understand the pathways through which these outcomes are achieved, as well how these outcomes change over time.

The project will use a comparative lens to capture how families experiencing different circumstances benefit from the initiative and will center the voices of initiative. Later sections of this design document will detail the merits of the evaluation approach and related Important considerations.

1 This document is the product of a collaborative process with staff from the Cambridge Community Foundation and the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee. 2 Cash Empowers: Rise Up Cambridge Bridges Gaps for Families. Data at a Glance, June 2023. 3 Cash Empowers, 2023. 4 MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to building reliable evidence to improve policies affecting people with low incomes (www.mdrc.org).

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This document serves as a blueprint for the research that will be conducted for this initiative. It builds on MDRC’s original proposal and incorporates evaluation ideas and goals brainstormed with the research advisory team at CEOC and CCF. The document is divided into three sections. In the first section, the document discusses how the study will add to the cash transfer policies knowledge base and make contributions to the field. The next section presents the research design for this project.

This section includes the study’s comparative approach, methodological approach and data collection, and analytical approach. The final section presents the ways this project will engage community residents through its work with the Research Advisory Council (RAC) and community researchers, the deliverables for the project, and a timeline that will guide the work.

A. Guaranteed Income as a Policy to Support Financial Stability Basic income policies that transfer cash to families “with no strings attached” represent a conceptually simple but politically controversial approach to strengthening the nation’s safety net, improving family well-being, and advancing equity. Unlike conditional cash transfers, which require individuals to engage in specific activities to earn cash rewards, universal basic income programs do not come with such requirements.

The controversy around guaranteed basic income often centers around concerns that such transfers will depress work effort, will be used for unnecessary expenditures, will be too expensive for taxpayers if operated at scale, and may not contribute to lifting the poorest families out of poverty.

In the current policy environment, and with some politicians now calling for deep cuts in the existing safety net, having strong, reliable evidence that shows what basic income policies can accomplish is especially critical to decisions about the future of these policies.

Interest in guaranteed income has grown, in both policy and academic circles, partly driven by the evaluations accompanying the basic income initiatives springing up around the country.5 These initiatives vary in design -- some are conditional (requirements such as attending school or working a number of hours) and others are unconditional.6 In addition, payments vary in format, size, and frequency.

Results emerging from these cash transfer programs focus on outcomes such as poverty and expenditures, labor and employment, education, and health and healthcare access.7 Much of the literature shows mixed or inconclusive results on outcomes such as employment, education, health, and community effects. While one program may find strong positive educational effects, another may find that the program had negative effects. Some of these differences may be attributable to differences in program type, length, and amount.

Some of that evidence is reviewed here.

5 For example, The Stanford Basic Income lab, the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Jain Family Institute’s Guaranteed Income Initiative are just a few of the institutions currently conducting research on various guaranteed income initiatives throughout the U.S. Baker et al, 2021. "Preliminary Analysis: SEED’s First Year.“ Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, p.7. 6 Childs, Heneghan, & Neighly, 2022. “An Examination of Cash Transfers in the U.S. and Canada.” Economic Security

Project, p5

7 Hasdell, 2020 “What We Know About Universal Basic Income.” Stanford Basic Income Lab. p5

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