Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot
The Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot was a county-government-run guaranteed income program that provided $500 unconditional monthly cash payments to 3,250 low-to-moderate-income households across Cook County, Illinois. Funded by $42 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal relief funds, it was administered by GiveDirectly and AidKit, with optional financial counseling offered by Working Credit. Participants were selected by lottery from over 233,000 applicants, and payments ran from December 2022 through January 2025. Cook County describes it as the largest publicly funded guaranteed income pilot in the nation, and it is being evaluated as a randomized controlled trial by the University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab.
Guaranteed Income, ARPA, County Government, Randomized Controlled Trial, Illinois, GiveDirectly, Largest Publicly Funded GI Pilot
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Cook County Bureau of Economic Development
- City
- Chicago
- State / Province
- Illinois
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 3,250
- Funding type
- Government
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 12,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 24 months
- Distribution Type
- Direct deposit to bank account, Pre-paid debit card, Re-loadable debit card
- Benefit details
Participants received $500 per month for up to 24 months (two years), totaling $12,000 per household, distributed via direct deposit or a GiveDirectly/AidKit-issued debit card. Cash was unconditional with no restrictions on use. A subset of participants also had access to optional, no-cost financial counseling through Working Credit; those who engaged for at least a year saw an average 39-point credit score increase. Roughly 63% of enrolled households were estimated to be below the Federal Poverty Level despite the 250% FPL eligibility ceiling.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligibility was limited to Cook County residents age 18 or older with household income at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level. The county held an open application window in October 2022; a random subset of applicants was invited to a second verification phase requiring proof of identity, residency, and income. Participants were then chosen via lottery from the verified applicant pool, with about 83% of participants residing in suburban Cook County and 15% in the City of Chicago.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
Financial
- Income as % of Federal Poverty Level
- 250 %
Geography
- US states covered
- Illinois
- Countries covered
- United States
- Counties covered
- Cook
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Optional
- Complementary program enrollment required
- None required, optional financial counseling through Working Credit was offered to some participants.
- Research / participation requirements
The University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab (with the Crown School of Social Work, Policy and Practice) is conducting a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial evaluation using administrative data linkage, quarterly surveys, and qualitative interviews; participation in research was optional and did not affect selection odds. Econsult Solutions, Inc. produced a companion Economic and Fiscal Impact Study (April 2025). The evaluation is funded in part by Crown Family Philanthropies, Healthy Communities Foundation, J-PAL Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Paul M. Angell Foundation, PERT Foundation Impact Fund, Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, The Rockefeller Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in addition to ARPA funds.
Application Process
- How to apply
Applications were accepted only during a defined open window in October 2022 (approximately three weeks); the program received over 233,000 applications. A randomly selected subset was invited to a second phase requiring submission of identity, residency, and income verification documents. Applications are now closed and the program is inactive; Cook County offers an interest form for updates on future guaranteed income programming.
- Selection process
Selection was by random lottery. Of 233,135 initial (Phase One) applicants, 12,488 completed Phase Two document verification; the Inclusive Economy Lab then ran a lottery to select 3,250 participants for the cash treatment group, with the remaining 9,238 verified applicants assigned to an unpaid control group for the research evaluation.
