From Netherlands to Indonesia, solutions for safer and snugger homes
1. Canada
A study that gave cash payments to homeless people is upending stereotypes. Researchers at the University of British Columbia gave 50 participants in Vancouver unconditional cash transfers of $7,500 (Canadian; U.S.$5,600) and tracked their spending for a year. They found that individuals mostly spent the money on food, housing, transit, clothes, and other essentials.
The results contrast with public perceptions that unhoused people would spend more money on “temptation goods” such as drugs and tobacco.
Lump-sum transfers were made rather than several smaller ones, to maximize freedom of choice. Recipients spent 99 fewer days unhoused than the control group. The
