Chicago Resilient Communities and Cook County Promise Pilots 
In 2022, both the City of Chicago and Cook County leveraged American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to launch ambitious guaranteed income programs as a means to address longstanding disparities and achieve equitable economic recovery from the pandemic.  

• For one year, the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot provided $500 per month in unrestricted cash to 5,000 Chicagoans.  

• Over a period of two years, the Cook County Promise Pilot provided residents with $500 per month in unrestricted cash to approximately 3,250 Cook County residents, both in the city and surrounding suburbs.  

The Inclusive Economy Lab partnered with both the City and County to evaluate their respective pilot programs, providing key learnings for policymakers, elected officials, funders, and advocates. Our learning agenda focuses on four broad goals: 

• Measuring the impact of these programs to potentially inform future policies and government aid programs

• Sharing the impact of these programs in participants’ own voices 

• Improving the design of future cash assistance programs to maximize benefit 

• Convening and amplifying national conversations on these and other efforts to move the needle towards alleviating poverty and inequality 

IEL published a literature review on the existing research on guaranteed income. It will updated periodically as new studies are published. 

OpenResearch Unconditional Cash Study 
Our work on guaranteed income began in 2018 with the OpenResearch Unconditional Cash Study. This program provided $1,000 a month to 1,000 residents of Illinois and Texas over three years. The Inclusive Economy Lab supported an international team of principal investigators by recruiting local partners, working with state agencies to protect public benefits for study participants, and securing data on outcomes.  

PhotoVoice Project

As part of our mixed methods approach, the Inclusive Economy Lab created a PhotoVoice project, a participatory research method that centers participants as photographers, interpreters, and creative analysts. For ten months, we provided various themes like worry, joy, fear, and stability and collected coinciding images and captions in order to gain a deeper insight into the program. Below is the program we produced to capture this exhibit. 

A First Look at the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot Implementing the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot: Process Evaluation Photovoice in the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot OpenResearch Unconditional Income Study Findings (September 2024) Benefits Protection Strategies for Guaranteed Income Summary of Guaranteed Income Research (August 2025) Cook County Promise Pilot: Descriptive Snapshot Policymakers' Report Cook County Promise: Economic and Fiscal Impact Study Cook County Promise: Economic Impact Analysis One-Pager