“'I have been working with people experiencing homelessness as a family physician for years and I am in no way surprised that the people who received this cash used it wisely,' Gary Bloch, a Canadian doctor who prescribes money to low-income patients, told me.
“'It should be fairly self-evident by now that providing cash to people who are very low-income will have a positive effect,' he added.'We have seen that in other work (conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America, guaranteed annual income studies in Manitoba), and I would expect a similar outcome here.'”
"What’s more, according to Foundations for Social Change, giving out the cash transfers in the Vancouver area actually saved the broader society money. Enabling 50 people to move into housing faster saved the shelter system $8,277 per person over the year, for a total savings of $413,850. That’s more than the value of the cash transfers, which means the transfers pay for themselves.
"The research team also looked at what’s effective at changing the public perception about cash transfers to homeless people. They found that pointing out how cash transfers actually produce net savings for society, as well as showing how homeless people spend the money, are both effective ways to counter stereotypes among the public.
“'People think that the status quo is cheap, but it’s actually incredibly expensive,' Williams said. 'So why don’t we just give people the cash they need to transform their lives?'”
Click on the link below for counter-intuitive findings regarding helping the homeless:
