What a Maine experiment shows us about universal basic income

Decky Mbala came to Maine in 2021 with her daughter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Like many asylum seekers initially barred from working when they get to the U.S., she survived on General Assistance.

The day Mbala got her first paycheck, she lost the state and local aid that covered basic expenses. Without it, she did not know how she was going to pay the $1,300 rent for her Biddeford apartment. She had hit the so-called benefits cliff, the abrupt drop in public assistance as incomes get just above limits.