$50 a week for 40 weeks: How no-strings cash changed the lives of teens

NEW ORLEANS — Kapri Clark used the $50 to help pay for her braces. Lyrik Grant saved half of it and used the rest for dance classes. Kevin Jackson said he squandered the cash on wings, ride shares for dates, and some DJ equipment he later tossed.

For the past five years, Clark, Grant, Jackson, and hundreds of high schoolers in New Orleans have shopped — or saved — as part of a project to explore what happens if you give cash directly to young people, no strings attached.

“That was the most helpful thing ever,” said Clark, now a student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, who said she could still use that extra cash.

“The $50 study,” as it’s known, began at Rooted School , a local charter school, as an ex

See Full Page