Guaranteed income programs for expectant mothers spreading across US

Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News

The program aims to support women during pregnancy.

After two miscarriages and now experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, Ashley Hudgens is praying for a healthy baby.

Hudgens, 34, told ABC News that intense stress and mental health complications took both a physical and emotional toll on her past pregnancies, but a new guaranteed income program for expectant mothers may ease some of the financial stressors of parenthood.

“You’re constantly thinking: ‘Oh, am I gonna have money for my rent this month? Am I going to have money to pay my phone bill?’” said Hudgens, who lives in Colorado. She had just started to question how she’d pay the overdue bills piling up when she received her first payment as part of the guaranteed income program called the Healthy Beginnings Project.

The project, privately funded by children’s accessory company Goldbug, will provide 20 pregnant participants in both rural and urban Colorado cities with a monthly guaranteed income of $750 for 15 months.

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The Bridge Project, another privately funded guaranteed income project that has worked with and influenced the Healthy Beginnings Project, has been doing this work in New York City and Rochester’s low-income communities for over two years. New mothers receive up to $1,000 a month, unconditionally, for three years, according to the organization.

To be eligible, women must live in the specified region, be at least 18 years old, 23 weeks pregnant or less with your first child, and have an annual household income under $52,000.

Learn more about the projects in the original article.

Read more about the Biden administration’s plan for Black mothers in this Breaking News article.

Find even more Breaking News here.