Growing Resilience in Tacoma (GRIT)

The Growing Resilience In Tacoma (GRIT) demonstration is a collaborative effort between United Way of Pierce County and the City of Tacoma.

SPENDING BREAKDOWN

The data in this pie chart shows aggregate spending for guaranteed income participants in Tacoma, WA. This includes all non-cash expenditures from the participants’ bank accounts, not just those that are from the guaranteed income they received.

Retail sales and services accounted for the largest share of spending, at 41.3%, followed by Food and groceries (28.18%) and Housing & Utilities (11.89%).

CHILD TAX CREDIT

The state of Washington saw significant reduction in poverty as a result of the largest, national pilot in the Child Tax Credit that was implemented as a result of the Covid Pandemic.

This program provided tax credit for eligible taxpayers with qualifying children in the form of cash payouts. The credit amount varied based on factors like the number of qualifying children and the taxpayer’s income. It can lower tax liability or result in a tax refund.

During the course of this pilot, it has been proven to reduce poverty for families with dependent children – in every state.

Poverty Rate (Current Law)

10.1%

Poverty Rate (Under new tax credit)

6.1%

Percentage point reduction

Percent change

40.3%

DEMOGRAPHICS

Basic Information

sample size (Treatment Group)

Avg. Age of Respondent (years)

Children in Households

Have Children in Household

1 %

No Children in Household

5 %

Avg. children in Household

Avg. Household size

Gender

Male

1 %

Female

5 %

Other

5 %

Ethnicity

Hispanic

1 %

Non-Hispanic

Race

White

1 %

African American

5 %

American Indian/ Alaska Native

5 %

Asian

1 %

Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander

5 %

Latino

5 %

Other/ Mixed

5 %

Marital Status

Single

5 %

Married

5 %

Partnered/ in-relationship

5 %

Primary language at Home

English

5 %

Spanish

5 %

Other

5 %

Annual Household Income (in $USD)

Mean

$ 14000

Median

$ 10800

Featured Story

Anonymous

This participant — a parent to two middle and one high school aged children — feels the mental relief of receiving a guaranteed income. She has been working overtime for years, but unconditional cash has enabled here to work just one fulltime job, which has benefited her wellbeing and her family.

“I spend more on just about everything so a 50-cent raise I got does not make up the difference with inflation. My rent alone has gone up $400 because the landlord can rent it for more.

Just being accepted into this program was awesome. I can breathe easier for a moment instead of worrying myself to death about money, working extra hours, and hours of lost sleep due to the mental/physical effects of not knowing how I will provide for my family. I spend more time talking to my kids and I don’t freak out everytime there is a new bill.

Physically not having to work overtime is very nice, I really just want to work and come home to my family instead of asking everyday if I can stay or maybe they could use me on one of my off days.”

Geno is a single father in Tacoma raising three boys. He works as a technology consultant for a small company and sustains his household paycheck-to-paycheck. He, like so many others, makes too much income to receive support from the public benefits system, but not enough to not need the support. With one kid needing diabetes medication and another needing tutoring,

Geno was beginning his search for a second job when he got accepted into the GRIT program. Because of the GRIT dollars, Geno has not needed a second job, and he hopes to save as much of the money as possible in order to sustain himself and his family on a single income. Geno’s $500 each month is spread between tutoring for his 11-year-old, food for the family, and their first family outing in over a decade.

When asked about the GRIT program, he says, “I’ve felt so much less month-to-month stress since this program started. It feels like I have some room to breathe.”

Featured Story

Geno

Featured Story

Monica

Monica and her 16-year-old daughter are relatively new to Tacoma. They moved to the Pacific Northwest after incurring loss, violence, and financial uncertainty while living in the South. Upon moving to Tacoma, Monica and her daughter found themselves homeless without any local connections to support them. Throughout their time in and out of shelters, motels and in the back of their car; Monica supported them by working full time as a medical assistant and spending her weekends applying for housing and other assistance programs.

Monica and her daughter are now safely housed, meeting regularly with a therapist and able to consistently pay their car payments and other bills. Monica has said that this “blessing” keeps her from needing a second job, has allowed her to leave an unsafe workspace, keeps her car bills paid, and might even allow for a day at a theme park for her and her daughter. “I have the chance to make my own decisions, and while we are still definitely poor it is so much different than how it used to feel.”

Stephanie is a single mother in Tacoma, recently a grandmother, and a survivor of an unsafe relationship. She was a recipient of the expanded Child Tax Credit and was one of the millions to be disappointed in its harsh cut-off date. Stephanie feels grateful that the GRIT payments began right after the Child Tax Credit program ended and she was beginning to look for a second job in order to make ends meet and start chipping away at her debt, but that the GRIT program has allowed her to stay at only one full-time job. “I just work one full time job and that’s great,” Bartella said. “It allows me time to go to my parents’ house on the weekend and help out with them. My daughter just had her first kid and so I’m a grandma and I get time to be with him.”

Featured Story

Stephanie

Featured Story

Name

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