Philadelphia families marked the first full year of the Philly Joy Bank, a guaranteed income pilot program for pregnant mothers and their babies, at Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse on Saturday, October 4, 2025.
Dozens of families gathered to celebrate the milestone of the Philly Joy Bank, a program designed to improve maternal and infant outcomes in vulnerable communities across Philadelphia. Launched last summer, the city program has enrolled 250 pregnant mothers and their families. Participants receive $1,000 a month for 18 months—unrestricted cash they can use however they choose.
The Philly Joy Bank is a collaboration with the city’s Department of Public Health. The program enrolled its last participants in March 2025. City officials plan to conduct a research study to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and expect to issue a report by the end of 2026.
Despite the research still underway, program manager Nia Coaxum noted early benefits from the monthly payments. “Folks have reported using this money to prepare for the new baby, to help take care of their existing kids, prepare for back-to-school time, which we know just passed, improve their housing situations, improve their transportation,” she explained. “It’s really just improved their mental health, their overall wellbeing, which ultimately was the goal of this program.”
Philadelphia joins other cities and communities nationwide experimenting with guaranteed income programs aimed at reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, while improving health outcomes for babies. Research shows that excessive stress, unmanaged chronic diseases, limited access to nutritious foods, poor insurance coverage, and other factors can contribute to pregnancy complications and maternal health risks. These challenges disproportionately affect people with low incomes, Black women and babies, and young mothers.
The Philly Joy Bank specifically targets mothers and families in the Cobbs Creek, Strawberry Mansion, and Nicetown-Tioga neighborhoods—areas where the city reports the highest number of infants born with very low birthweights.
In addition to monthly payments, participants receive financial counseling, lactation support, doula services, and referrals to other essential social services.
Program leaders hope that the guaranteed income will help families pay for resources that might otherwise be out of reach or manage unexpected expenses or income loss.
New mother Iyanna L. shared that the money was a vital relief when she had to stop working due to hyperemesis gravidarum—a severe form of constant nausea and vomiting that lasted nearly her entire pregnancy.
“At first, I was stressing, because you don’t want to think about money, but you need it. You have to,” Iyanna said. When she began receiving the $1,000 monthly payments from the Philly Joy Bank, she felt a huge relief.
“I never went without food, I never went without transportation to a doctor’s appointment, I was good,” she added. “I didn’t have everything I wanted. I didn’t have my house, the car and all that at the time, but this program definitely helped me get all the resources.”
At Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse, Iyanna watched happily as a Philly Joy Bank staff member cuddled her 7-month-old son. The two recently moved into their own apartment. “I never knew programs like this even existed,” she said.
Families at the event sat at picnic tables enjoying food and drinks while older siblings played outside or colored pictures of dinosaurs and animals. Fabienne and Victor chased after their 20-month-old daughter while keeping a close eye on their newborn, who was napping in a car seat carrier.
The parents enrolled in the Philly Joy Bank in February and call the program their “insurance.”
“It’s our insurance of life,” Victor said. “This program gives us a lot of confidence, a lot of confidence about the unexpected. Every time, every month, you try to plan your expenses, to plan your money, but every month you also have the unexpected.”
Victor explained how something as simple as a parking ticket could easily throw off their budgeting. “Now, it’s not a big deal, because we have Philly Joy Bank,” he said.
City officials have expressed interest in expanding the program beyond the current pilot cohort but intend to wait for the final research outcomes before making any decisions regarding the program’s future.
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https://www.phillytrib.com/news/local_news/philadelphia-families-say-philly-joy-bank-guaranteed-income-program-provided-stability-during-pregnancy/article_2f1625dc-ff5c-4b8a-96b0-df55b72584e7.html