Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Fran Spielman

Guaranteed income pilot program will use lottery to pick 5,000 recipients of $500 monthly checks

Chicago residents who quality for the city’s new guaranteed income pilot program can submit applications, and a lottery will be used to pick the 5,000 recipients of the no-strings-attached $500 monthly checks. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

With demand for the $500 monthly payments expected to outstrip the $31.5 million in available cash, Chicago will hold a lottery to pick 5,000 participants in what Mayor Lori Lightfoot has touted as the nation’s largest universal basic income program.

Four months after the City Council agreed to use a chunk of federal pandemic relief money to provide the no-strings-attached cash assistance, the year-long test period finally may be getting off the ground.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.