Cash is the currency of urgency.
In Washington D.C, the average white family has 81 times the wealth of the average Black family – eight times the national racial wealth gap. This extraordinary disparity drives divergent outcomes for the District’s Black and white populations, across lifespans and generations. The scale of this inequality reflects centuries of exploitation of and divestment from Black families and communities, and demands urgent action.
We know what works to support low-income children, families, and communities. And the good news is, the solution is simple: cash. With the power of no-strings-attached cash transfers, we can reinvest in the District’s black families and build an economy that works for everyone.
Study after study has found that a family’s income has a significant impact on children’s lifelong outcomes. In the short term, cash means less food insecurity, less housing instability, and better physical and mental health for children and their families. In the long term, research has found that an extra $3,000 in a family’s annual income when a child is younger than age 5 leads to 19% higher future earnings. Another study found that when mothers with low incomes received just over $300 in monthly cash assistance during the first year of their children’s lives, their infants’ showed significantly more brain activity associated with higher language and cognitive scores and better social and emotional skills. Higher family incomes have been linked to everything from lower rates of premature births to higher rates of college and high school graduation.
The evidence is clear. Offering cash to struggling families is an effective way to care for our nation’s children.
The Mother Up pilot is a guaranteed income pilot in Washington DC, run by Mother’s Outreach Network. This program supports no-and-low-income Black mothers in Washington, DC by providing them with $500 a month for three years, no strings attached.
We need your support to continue the work.
In the District of Columbia, the cost of living is roughly 450% of the Federal Poverty Level, but nearly 3 in 4 Black children live in households with incomes under 300% of FPL. One third of D.C’s Black children are growing up in families with income below the federal poverty line. Our city is failing these families, and limiting their ability to thrive.
D.C mothers and children deserve better.
Pilots across the country are gathering evidence that guaranteed income works. Join us today to build a new social contract for DC families, one that reinvests in our communities and creates new opportunities for our families and children.
