“In discussions about the size of a UBI in the United States, two focal points have emerged: $500 per month (the figure suggested by Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes and used in the Stockton experiment) and $1,000 per month (the figure proposed by a Chicago mayoral task force, labor leader Andy Stern, entrepreneur and former 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and basic-income activist Scott Santens, among others). The $500-a-month figure happens to correspond, almost precisely, with the US Census Bureau’s threshold for “deep poverty” for a single individual. The Census Bureau estimates that more than 18 million Americans—including nearly 6 million children—currently live in “deep poverty”; a $500-a-month UBI would bring deep poverty (almost) to an end. The $1,000-a-month figure corresponds almost precisely with the Census Bureau’s overall poverty threshold for single individuals; more than 40 million Americans—nearly an eighth of the country’s population—lives below the poverty threshold today.”