Interesting Results From New Leaf Project

A Canadian charity recently conducted a bold social experiment: giving people experiencing homelessness a one-time cash infusion of $7,500. The results of a B.C. research project that gave thousands of dollars to homeless people are in and, according to one researcher, could challenge stereotypes about people “living on the margins.” The New Leaf project is a joint study started in 2018 by Foundations for Social Change, a Vancouver-based charitable organization, and the University of British Columbia. After giving homeless Lower Mainland residents cash payments of $7,500, researchers checked on them over a year to see how they were faring.

The individuals who got the payments tended to spend them on the necessities: on average they spent 52 percent of the cash on food and rent, 15 percent on other items like bills and medicine, and 16 percent on clothes and transportation. Spending on alcohol, cigarettes and drugs went down an average 39 percent as well. It is also, according to New Leaf, a way to potentially cut down on the costs of government services aiming to help the homeless. According to the program, Canada spends an average of $55,000 per person on social services for homeless people. Direct cash transfers could save $8100 per person.