Low-income Providence residents begin getting monthly income

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence has begun providing guaranteed monthly payments to some low-income residents, the mayor said, Wednesday.

The city received more than 4,000 applications, and 110 residents were randomly selected to participate in the pilot program, said Mayor Jorge Elorza, a Democrat.

Most of the participants are women, more than 60% have children and nearly half are Latino. The median reported monthly income for the 110 residents before the payments began was $913.

Providence announced in July that it was joining a small but growing number of US cities pledging to provide a guaranteed monthly income to a certain number of low-income residents.