In recent years, there has been renewed attention to unrestricted cash assistance programs—which offer unconditional payments to qualified recipients at regular intervals (as opposed to other public benefits that can only be spent on certain foods or housing)—as a means of alleviating poverty. This attention is due, in part, to pilot program initiatives that were launched to address the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is difficult to draw conclusions from the resulting body of evidence on these programs, considering they differed in design and target population. There is more to be learned about how families with different characteristics experience and benefit from these programs.

Launched in 2023, Rise Up Cambridge was an 18-month-long, citywide cash assistance program in Cambridge, MA. It provided $500 per month to families with low incomes (up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level) with at least one child aged 21 years or younger in the home. The unrestricted payments provided meaningful financial relief to participating families, helping them meet basic needs, buffer financial shocks, and reduce stress. This report presents findings from MDRC’s mixed-methods evaluation of Rise Up Cambridge, which examined how the cash payments were used, what the outcomes were for the participating families, how the cash contributed to those outcomes, and whether the outcomes changed over time.