Guaranteed Income Program

a micro-pilot project

The NCJW|LA Guaranteed Income Program Enrollment is Currently Closed

If you are looking for the new Guaranteed Income Program currently offered through the City of Los Angeles, please visit the City's website for more information: bigleap.lacity.org/.

Thank you for visiting the NCJW|LA Guaranteed Income Program for women in care professions. At this time, enrollment is closed, and we are not taking additional applications. We would like to thank all the applicants, community members, community organizations, and friends for helping us reach the care professionals of LA CD13. Updates on our next enrollment cycle will begin in January 2022.

We encourage you to stay connected over social media or join our mailing list to be the first to hear about upcoming enrollment cycles, NCJW|LA scholarships, workshops, and other services that we offer the community. For a list of additional resources available to you, check out our C ommunity Resources page.

Guaranteed Income for Caregivers

In 2019, NCJW|LA conducted large-scale community research that examined the available services in our region and surveyed the in-depth needs of community members. Glaring gaps were identified ranging from access to emergency financial resources to social/emotional isolation. From this data, we developed a new model program designed to address these critical issues.

Financial interventions can help enrich Los Angeles communities most in need. Low-wage, working women may need financial support to ensure they stay housed and lift themselves out of poverty. Low-paying jobs lead to increased financial instability that forces many women to make difficult decisions to allocate their limited resources. Economic unpredictability leads to several adverse effects on women's well-being, including impacts on mental health, physical health, and a decreased sense of self-worth.

Advancing Economic Justice and Equity Through Direct Cash Assistance

12 female participants

12 months of additional income

$1000 in monthly cash assistance

For care professionals exclusively

As we continue to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to advance economic justice and equity for women is more prevalent now than we could have ever imagined. (8)

How It Works

The Guaranteed Income Program (GIP) will provide a caregiver cohort of 12 women with $1,000 a month for a year.

By providing cash assistance, we hope to expand the social safety net for the women who do the critical work of caring for and offering dignity to the ill, disabled, children, or the aging. Your participation in our program is not contingent on the answers you provide on your online application. In April 2021, 12 applicants will be chosen randomly and invited to join the cohort. Participants in the cohort will be able to use the money in whatever way they see appropriate to best meet their financial demands and pursue financial goals. The women in our cohort will be provided virtual access to valuable resources and a support network of fellow caregivers or mentors supplied by NCJW|LA. Participants are not required to join any events.

How Does Gender Inequality Affect Vulnerable Communities?

The persistence of gender inequality is a key contributor to income inequality for all women, especially for women of color and transgender women. Income inequality is the unequal distribution of income in a society, fueled by social and economic forces that unevenly distribute economic opportunities. We urgently need interventions that provide an economic safety net for women who cannot qualify for governmental benefits and live on the edge of poverty.

How Are Women in Care Work Impacted by Gender Inequality?

Waged caregiver titles may include: Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Home Health Aide (HHA), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Personal Care Assistant (PCA), Nurse Aid (NA).

20 Percent of U.S home care workers live in poverty compared to 7 percent of all workers.

Despite making up only a quarter of the total labor force, people of color, especially women of color, are overrepresented in care work: in 2015, 59 Percent of home care workers for the elderly and disabled were people of color.
74 out of 245 nurses who died of COVID-19 were Filipino, making 30% of all recorded nurse deaths. Three times as many Filipino health workers have died here in the U.S than in the Philippines.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is guaranteed income?

What income do I need to have to qualify?

Your household must earn (your annual income) between 50% - 80% Area Median Income of Los Angeles County. The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Income Limits Summary is what we will use to verify if your eligible to join the Guaranteed Income Program:

To find out if you are eligible to apply, please find how many persons are in your family and see where your 2019 Income fit within the chart "Income Limit” rows. If your annual income is more than what is detailed in this chart, then you would not be eligible to apply. Please see below for examples.

For Example:
A caregiver's family of 2 makes $71,200. She/They will NOT be qualified for the program because the household income is above the low-income limit of $66,800 for a two-person family.

A caregiver's family of 5 makes $61,200. She/They WILL be eligible to apply for the program because the household income is between the 50th and 80th percentile of Area Median Income (i.e. above the very low-income limit of $60,600 and also below the low-income limit of $90,200).

Do I have to pay the money back?

Are there any restrictions or requirements for how I spend my cash assistance? How do I have to spend the money I will be receiving?

We believe the best people to determine how a family should spend their finances are the people in that family. We believe people can manage their finances to help their families achieve economic stability. There will not be any accounting or reporting requirements of how the money is spent. However, there will be periodic program evaluations that measure how the monthly cash assistance has impacted the lives of the recipients. For example, has the money impacted how many hours you work? Your stress? Your free time etc.?

How to find out if I live in Los Angeles Council District 13?

Will my employer need to know about my participation in this program?

What materials or items will I need when I apply for Guaranteed Income Program?

After I apply, what happens next?

Are there other programs like NCJW|LA’s Guaranteed Income Program?

Can't find your answer? Reach out to Research & Development Coordinator Michelle Galan with your inquiry here.

Learn More About Guaranteed Income

If you would like to learn more about Guaranteed Income and Universal Basic Income visit the following websites for more information.

Stanford Basic Income Lab

What is UBI?

Penn Today

What is Guaranteed Income?

Mayors of Guaranteed Income

Guaranteed Income Resources

Help Us Increase Our Reach!

This program was made possible with the assistance of donors like you. Your generous contribution will help us to increase the program reach, allowing us to serve more communities suffering from financial instability within Los Angeles County.

Support Guaranteed Income