San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a pilot program called Abundant Birth Project. The program will provide basic income to women during pregnancy and about six months after giving birth. A monthly income of $1,000 will be given to about 150 Black and Pacific Islander women in San Francisco.
This is the first program of its kind in the United States. The goal is to achieve better maternal health and birthing outcomes in the most affected communities in San Francisco.
In San Francisco, Black infants are almost twice as likely to be born prematurely compared with White infants (13.8% versus 7.3%, from 2012-2016) and Pacific Islander infants have the second-highest preterm birth rate (10.4%). Furthermore, Black families account for half of the maternal deaths and over 15% of infant deaths, despite representing only 4% of all births. Pacific Islander families face similar disparities.
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