HudsonUP Featured on PBS NewsHour UBI Special
On March 21, HudsonUP was featured on PBS NewsHour in a segment that discussed the reasons for our universal basic income pilot, the strategy behind it, and the impact it has had on participants.
In the segment, Pilot Director Joan Hunt said the size and demographics of Hudson make it an ideal place for this pilot and explained that giving people free money helps challenge negative perceptions of people with low incomes.
"There is a history of judgment when it comes to people in poverty and this misconception that people with limited resources don't know how to make decisions that are best for them and their families, when in fact they are the experts in their own experience, and they do know what's best for them and their families," Ms. Hunt said.
Mayor Kamal Johnson talked about people moving from New York City to Hudson and driving up house prices. "We see a lot of transplants from New York City and from other big cities that are now coming here, and that's tough on the people that grew up here," Mr. Johnson said. "You see a lot less of the people you went to school with because they are forced to move to the outskirts of the city."
Claire Cousin, Vice Chair of the Hudson Housing Authority Board and Board President of the Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition, said a lack of affordable housing has created significant financial need in Hudson. "It's become really hard for families to find affordable spaces outside of subsidized housing," Ms. Cousin said. "Most people that have children are only looking to get on wait lists for subsidized housing because that's the only thing that is sustainable and affordable for them."
One participant, Lira Campbell, is a retired educator who has lived in Hudson since 2002. She said she has seen people priced out of their homes in Hudson firsthand. For Ms. Campbell, the money has had a positive impact -- it has helped her family through a difficult time as her husband was recently diagnosed with cancer.
“I can go to bed at night and stop thinking, ‘How? How am I going to pay for this?’”
"I can go to bed at night and stop thinking, 'How? How am I going to pay for this? How am I going to get this? How am I going to do this?' So it took away the 'how?' and it took away the worries," Ms. Campbelll said. With the income from HudsonUP, she hopes to save enough to buy a house.
Watch the segment here.
