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Do you think on $1,000 month people are getting out of the trailer parks? There aren't a lot of $500 a month apartments out there-- and if there are, they will

• SwellJoe 11y ago
  Yes, the people who currently work, but live in trailer parks, would likely be lifted out of poverty and the necessity to live in a trailer park by an additional $1000/month per adult in the household. Would it lift all of the families in trailer parks out of poverty? Of course not. But, it would be a reasonably impressive start on the problem. It's also worth recognizing the other impacts of a basic income. People who are currently trapped in their jobs and locations would find themselves with the ability to relocate for better opportunities or lower housing costs. The more money you have, the less of the poverty traps you fall prey to on a daily basis. So, remove the check cashing scams, the expensive credit scams, the rent-to-own scams, etc. from the lives of a huge swath of the population and you free a lot of them from being stuck in poverty. There's reasonably good research on this from various studies and pilot projects that simply give money to poor people and watched the results. More money won't cure the problems of trailer parks and slumlords but it will give more people more options. And more options means competitive pressure begins to be effective. Markets work when people have options. Right now, the very poorest people in our communities have no options, and thus have no way to vote with their dollars.