Program leaders said they hope the guaranteed monthly income can help families pay for resources that may otherwise be out of reach, or be able to handle unexpected costs and income loss.
New mother Iyanna L. said she was grateful the money was there when she had to stop working after developing hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of constant nausea and vomiting that lasted nearly her entire pregnancy.
“I think at first, I was stressing, because it was like, you don’t want to think about money, but you need it. You have to,” she said.
It was a relief, she said, when she began receiving $1,000 payments from the Philly Joy Bank.
“I never went without food, I never went without transportation to a doctor’s appointment, I was good,” she said. “I didn’t have everything I wanted. I didn’t have my house, the car and all that at the time, but this program definitely helped me get all the resources.”
The Philly Joy Bank guaranteed income pilot program launched last summer. The program enrolled a total of 250 pregnant women living in Cobbs Creek, Strawberry Mansion and Nicetown-Tioga, neighborhoods with the highest rates of infants born at very low birthweights. (Nicole Leonard/WHYY)
At Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse, Iyanna smiled and watched a Philly Joy Bank staff member cuddle her son, who is now 7 months old. The two recently moved into their own apartment.
“I never knew programs like this even existed,” she said.
Families sat at picnic tables with some food and drinks while groups of older siblings ran around outside or used markers to color in pictures of dinosaurs and animals.
Fabienne and Victor chased their 20-month-old daughter while keeping an eye on their newborn, who slept in a car seat carrier.
The parents, who enrolled in the Philly Joy Bank in February, called the program their insurance.
The Philly Joy Bank provides $1,000 a month in unrestricted cash to mothers before and after pregnancy. The payments will last a total of 18 months. (Nicole Leonard/WHYY)
“It’s our insurance of life,” Victor said. “This program gives us a lot of confidence, a lot of confidence about the unexpected. Every time, every month, you try to plan your expenses, to plan your money, but every month you also have the unexpected.”
Something as simple as a parking ticket could easily derail their budgeting, said the father of two.
“Now, it’s not a big deal, because we have Philly Joy Bank,” Victor said.
City officials say they’re interested in expanding the program beyond the pilot cohort, but will wait to evaluate final research outcomes before deciding on the program’s future.
