Title
Creating Chapter 223 of the Legislative Code relating to Guaranteed Income Program (Title XXIII).
Body
WHEREAS, the entire City of Saint Paul is currently responding to immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency, in the form of employment loss, food shortages and housing hardships suffered by Saint Paul residents; and
WHEREAS, according to the Federal Reserve, prior to the pandemic, 40% of Americans could not afford a $400 emergency, and 30% experienced income volatility from month to month-one in three of whom struggled to pay their bills because of their varying income; and
WHEREAS, according to the Federal Reserve, workers in low-income families in the United States have experienced greater employment disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic than workers with higher incomes; 28% of people who were employed prior to the pandemic and making less than $40,000 were laid off compared to 13% of the highest income families, and one-forth of low-income workers had returned to their previous work compared to 39% of high-income workers; and
WHEREAS, according to Minnesota Compass, front-line workers in the Twin Cities metro area-who are working to keep our community functioning by access to food and necessary services during the pandemic while exposing them to health risks for contracting COVID-19-are more likely to have low-incomes and less likely to have health insurance; and
WHEREAS, according to research by Mathematica, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, household income drops sharply near the birth of a child-for all households in the United States, income is 10% lower at the time of birth than a year prior, but is 42% lower on average for single-mother households; and
WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, adults in households with children have been more likely to report permanent loss of employment, food shortages, and low confidence in their abilities to pay mortgage...
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