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Dustin Luca
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SALEM, MASS. – An upcoming panel at Salem State University represents the first opportunity to learn about the impact of Uplift Salem, a guaranteed basic income pilot that concluded in the city late last year.
City officials and researchers with Salem State’s North Shore Policy Lab and sociology department will share insights from the program at a panel titled Restoring Dignity and Quality of Life through Guaranteed Basic Income Programs. The event will be held in the Ellison Campus Center on North Campus, 352 Lafayette St., on Wednesday, March 25 from 12:15 to 1:30 pm.
Uplift Salem was a guaranteed basic income pilot program that offered 100 eligible participants monthly payments of $500 for a year. Payments started in late 2024 and concluded in November of 2025. Throughout the program’s run, direct-cash recipients and a separate control group of 100 others participated in a study conducted by Professor Thomas Pineros-Shields, director of the North Shore Policy Lab, and Professor Sara Moore, associate professor of Sociology, to examine and document the impact of the payments.
“The data from the SSU research partners demonstrated that programs like Uplift Salem provide a broad community benefit: When neighbors have more consistent access to supports like healthcare, childcare, and transportation, it improves the community overall,” Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said. “It increases employment, strengthens our economy, and helps children thrive in school. These are investments in the integrity and strength of our community as a whole.”
Built to be a one-year pilot, Uplift Salem was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and a private contribution by project partner and non-profit UpTogether, totaling $685,000.
Findings to be shared March 25 will highlight not just how payments through the program impacted recipients, but also a plethora of systemic issues that impact those recipients and compound issues in poverty.
“One thing we saw again and again in this pilot was that when people are living in chronic poverty, the persistent needs of getting through the day make it incredibly difficult to focus on your own needs,” said Sarah Roy, director of the Salem Children’s Alliance and team lead on Uplift Salem. “When people have a little breathing room, they say, ‘I can use this to make choices for me—to get a bus ticket or get my car repaired, so I can go to the grocery store.’ That ember of hope has a huge impact on everything—the economy, health care, childcare, domestic violence support.”
Research and study of the program’s impact continues through the North Shore Policy Lab and Discovery Scholars, two research bodies at Salem State that provide students at the university powerful opportunities for undergraduate research and civic engagement.
“Uplift Salem was the flagship project of the North Shore Policy Lab as we started it last year,” said Thomas Pineros Shields, a politics, policy, and international relations faculty member who leads the Lab. “We formed a group of students trained in applied policy research in the fall who are now carrying out this analysis. Their final review will be done in May.”
The panel is cosponsored by the North Shore Policy Lab, the politics, policy and international relations department, and the sociology department. It is part of the Bates Center for Public and Global Affairs Spring 2026 Public Policy Series.
“Uplift Salem was an opportunity for us to add to the body of work demonstrating the efficacy of these programs,” Pangallo said. “We will continue to advance the conversation at both the state and national level as well, demonstrating how positive an impact these programs have had.”