The Dignity Dividend: Lessons Learned from Guaranteed Income Pilots in Massachusetts

Over the past several years, leaders in Massachusetts and across the country have launched guaranteed income (GI) pilot programs to help people meet basic needs, improve health, promote housing stability, strengthen economic security, and more. These programs have been closely tracked by researchers and advocates alike, and there's growing energy behind the idea that unconditional cash could be a valuable addition to the social safety net.

This report takes stock of what has been learned so far from this growing GI ecosystem and places that learning in the context of the broader national research base, in four sections:

• State of the Research: A literature review of the national evidence base on guaranteed income.
• A Catalog and Synthesis of Massachusetts Guaranteed Income Programs: A detailed look at the 24 GI pilots launched across the Commonwealth in recent years. We describe who was served and how programs were structured.
• Paths Forward: An exploration of policy interventions that learn from insights on guaranteed income programs implemented to date.
• A Catalog of Active and Recently Concluded Programs: Program-level detail on guaranteed income initiatives documented across Massachusetts.

Throughout the report, researchers draw on publicly available information and conversations with program administrators to surface what’s working, where gaps remain, and how GI can be part of a more equitable economic future.