Guaranteed Income Works: Data from Durham, nc

Durham Excel guaranteed income program


The Durham Excel guaranteed income program provided $600 per month in unconditional cash payments for one year to 109 participants who had recently been released from incarceration. Championed by former Mayor Steve Schewel, former Mayor Elaine O’Neal and current Mayor Leonardo Williams, the innovative program was administered in partnership with StepUp Durham, a community-based organization providing services to job seekers in the Durham community who face challenges to employment.


To qualify, applicants must have been released from incarceration within the 5 years prior to the program application’s launch, with an income at or below 60% of the Durham-Chapel Hill area median income in 2021. Researchers conducted a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial, with a control group of 138 people, to evaluate the impacts of the unconditional cash. 


The structural barriers to reentry into society after incarceration are well-documented, including discrimination in employment opportunities, barriers to housing and restrictions from accessing some social safety net programs. The Excel program provided a stable income to promote economic mobility for returning citizens.






Key Takeaways

    • With the cash helping to meet their basic needs, recipients reported avoiding risky or criminal activities, using less drugs and alcohol and staying on track with parole or probation requirements. 

    • Overcoming barriers like these is essential to building the stability and agency to move towards goals like employment, stable housing and rebuilding family and community relationships.

    • Recipients showed significant improvement in their ability to provide themselves with food at 6 and 12 months. 

    • At the end of the study, the percentage of households worried about having enough food was smaller for the recipient group compared to the control group (44% vs. 52%, respectively) and fewer recipients reported needing to eat less due to insufficient food (40% vs. 48% of the control group).

    • Recipients experienced lower stress and anxiety than the control group after the pilot ended. 

    • Recipients were also able to create more stability in their home life, demonstrated in significantly lower scores for household chaos than the control group.

    • The percentage of recipients reporting high levels of hope increased significantly throughout the pilot, going from 12.68% at Baseline to 23.68% at 12 months. The percentage of recipients reporting high hopefulness was sustained even after payments stopped.

    • Guaranteed income allowed recipients to give back to their support networks, including the family and friends who helped them financially during incarceration and post-release with things like food and shelter. Recipients were more likely to provide financial assistance to family or friends, which included covering utility bills, helping with rent, and other costs like transportation and childcare.

The findings demonstrate that a guaranteed income can help reduce the economic volatility amid severe marginalization that people who have been previously incarcerated face. While guaranteed income does not remove structural barriers to economic security, such as housing and employment discrimination, the recurring cash payments gave recipients an increased ability to navigate those struggles. This pilot program demonstrates the potential of this simple and effective solution to improve the lives of formerly incarcerated people, which holds potential for us all by promoting public safety, reducing healthcare and criminal justice costs, and directly contributing to a more equitable society.