Durham families can apply for guaranteed monthly income in 2025. Here’s how.
Families living in poverty often struggle to get by with the existing social safety net, so Durham County is trying something new in 2025 — no-strings-attached cash payments.
Applications open in January for the community’s second experiment with guaranteed basic income, a concept that’s rapidly grown in popularity since the stimulus payments Americans received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The county will randomly select 125 families to receive $750 a month for a year, in what Nida Allam, chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, hopes will be “a lifeline.”
The participants will also receive $100 a month to complete surveys so researchers can analyze the results. Another 125 people in the county will also receive $100 a month to provide comparable data.
The aim of Durham County’s experiment is to see if the extra cash can improve the well-being of children and families.
“Other guaranteed income programs throughout the US have shown increased positive brain activity in babies, increased likelihood of time spent doing enriching activities with children, decreased stress, and improved employment outcomes,” reports the nonprofit Durham Children’s Initiative, which will run the program.
Do you qualify?
Applications open in January to adult residents of Durham County who parent at least one child under 18.
To qualify, a family must make below 30% of the area’s median income. In Durham and Chapel Hill, that is:
- For two people: $25,400
- For three people: $28,600
- For four people: $31,750
- For five people: $34,300
- For six people: $36,850
- For seven people: $39,400
- For eight people: $41,950
Want to be notified when the application goes live? Sign up at dci-nc.org/dco-thrives.
‘Help with basic necessities’
The first attempt at providing guaranteed basic income in Durham focused on a different group, the justice-involved.
The city, also working with a nonprofit, gave $600 a month to 109 people who had recently been released from prison and had an income below 60% of the area’s median income.
“The funds are of great benefit to me because they help with my basic necessities like paying my rent,” one of the participants said in a 2022 interview.
“It allowed me to have a savings account, like for if something went wrong,” another said.
The typical participant was a 41-year-old African-American man with one child and an annual income of $8,769, data showed.
The payments lasted one year, ending in 2023, and both the city and county have run into delays since then.
The county budgeted $1.7 million for its program (for families) in summer 2023, and intended to launch the program that year. It’s now shifted to 2025.
The city has had $1 million set aside since summer 2023 for a second program for the justice-involved. It’s also now aiming to relaunch in 2025.
The Stanford Basic Income Lab counts 64 active experiments in the United States.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has the only active program in North Carolina. It has shared casino revenue with enrolled members of the tribe since 1996.
This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Durham families can apply for guaranteed monthly income in 2025. Here’s how.."
