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California is pioneering experiments in universal basic income—join the journey!

Guaranteed Income: A Bold Experiment to Reduce Inequality

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SOC 12SC

The state of California, the so-called “land of plenty,” in fact has the country’s highest poverty rate as well as extremely high rates of homelessness and profound racial and ethnic disparities. These problems persist despite a long history of anti-inequality policy. 

What should be done? In an innovative $35M experiment, the state of California is testing bold new approaches to taking on poverty and inequality, including an unconditional “guaranteed income” that assures that everyone can raise their children in healthy environments, invest in their skills, and take advantage of opportunities. The Stanford Guaranteed Income Team – a coalition of Stanford faculty – will be advising on the implementation and evaluation of this experiment (pending the state's final review of their grant application).

Would you like to assist with one of the boldest anti-inequality experiments of our time? If you sign on for this course, you will (a) learn about the causes of poverty and other inequities and how they can be taken on, and (b) then assist with the implementation and evaluation of the experiment by interviewing potential participants.

This course is not for the faint of heart. It will involve intensive training in qualitative interviewing and other types of research; it will require a commitment to be there for the people who have decided to participate in the experiment; and it will require a willingness to listen and learn with humility and respect.

Meet the Instructor

David Grusky

Edward Ames Edmond Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences; Professor of Sociology; Director, Center on Poverty and Inequality; Senior Fellow, Institute for Economic Policy Research

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David Grusky's research examines changes in the amount, type, and sources of inequality. His recent books are Inequality in the 21st Century (with Jasmine Hill, 2017), Social Stratification(with Kate Weisshaar, 2014), Occupy the Future (with Douglas McAdam, Robert Reich, and Debra Satz, 2012), The New Gilded Age (with Tamar Kricheli-Katz, 2011), and The Great Recession (with Bruce Western and Chris Wimer, 2011).