Pregnant women in the city will receive no-strings-attached payments intended to help lower infant mortality rates.
Philadelphia, which allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, is testing a new program to decrease its shocking rate of infant mortality.
The city’s infant mortality rate is the highest among the country’s ten most populous cities.
At a press conference, Mayor Jim Kenney described the pilot program, which will provide 250 pregnant women with $1,000 a month for 18 months to use however they see fit.
Women will also be offered access to a financial counselor, lactation consultant, and a doula (a trained professional who provides emotional and informational support during and after childbirth).
“That’s pro-life,” Kenney said of the program as a whole, which has been dubbed the Philly Joy Bank.
‘Guaranteed Income’ is Latest Trend
Guaranteed income is “a cash payment provided on a regular basis to individuals or households, with no work requirements, and no strings attached,” according to the Guaranteed Income Pilots Dashboard.
The Joy Bank is similar to San Francisco’s Abundant Birth Project, which provides $1,000 per month for one year.
Both initiatives were inspired by Manitoba, Canada’s long-running prenatal benefit, though it provides a much smaller $81 per month to pregnant women living in the province.
Not all trials involve payments to pregnant women.
For example, Los Angeles County launched Breathe, a pilot project that provides 1000 residents $1,000 a month for 3 years. Similarly, another California program in Oakland is testing $500 per month payments to low-income families with at least one child under 18 years old.
Guaranteed income was formerly referred to as universal basic income.
There are limited polls on the issue, but 45% of Americans supported giving every adult citizen, regardless of employment or income, a $1,000 per month payment according to an August 2020 Pew Research Center survey.
The idea was prominently popularized during the 2020 presidential campaign cycle by candidate Andrew Yang.
Very slick way to introduce more government dependency and make themselves look magnanimous!!
More socialism leading to communism. That’s when everyone will be equally disadvantaged and poor.