Basic income pilots

Basic income pilots are experiments with basic income or the related concept negative income tax, including partial basic income and similar programs. The following list gives an overview of the most well known basic income pilots, including those which haven´t started yet but where political decisions are made.

North America

Pilots in United States in the 1960s and 1970s

Beginning in the end of 1960s there were five basic income-experiments in the United States, all of which took the form of a negative income tax. Alicia H. Munnell, examining experiments in Indiana, Seattle and Denver,^[1] explains that Gary Burtless found a moderate reduction in work effort (17% among women, 7% among men). She also found that the money was not squandered on frivolous products such as drugs and luxury goods. There was an increase in school attendance, but otherwise, no noticeable improvements to health and well-being and a negligible effect on homeownership rates.

MINCOME in Manitoba

A similar experiment, known as Mincome, took place in Manitoba, Canada, 1974-1979. According to a study by Evelyn Forget in 2011 there were some reduction in work hours, but on the other hand more people studied and the overall health got better.^[2] Also worth noting is the a system which is a kind of partial basic income financed by the state's oil revenues, and the promotion of a local basic income in Prince Edward Island, Canada. ^[3]

Native American casinos and tribal profit sharing

A longitudinal study of 1,420 low income children in rural North Carolina designed to observe their mental condition had the unintended result of also measuring the effect of an unconditional cash transfer on a subset of this group.^[4] The Great Smoky Mountains Study of Youth found that a quarter of the families (those belonging to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) experienced a surge in annual income due to a newly built casino. During this study, a portion of the profits of this casino were distributed unconditionally to all tribal members on a semi-annual basis.^[5] Key findings of this study include: lower instances of behavioral and emotional disorders among the children, an improved relationship between parents and their children, and a reduction in parental alcohol consumption.^[6]

Y Combinator Oakland 2016

In 2016, Y Combinator announced a five year unconditional basic income study in Oakland. ^[7]

Africa

Namibia

In 2008, the Namibia BIG Coalition conducted a two-year basic income pilot in the Otjivero - Omitara settlement, providing N$100 per month to every person under the age of 60. The treatment group consisted of around 1000 people, and researchers used a combination of panel and case studies to measure outcomes. After the study ended at the end of 2009, a monthly allowance of N$80 was paid to all participants until March 2012. ^[8]

In 2013, due to extreme drought conditions, the Lutheran church coalition in Namibia provided a monthly cash grant of N$100 to 6000 individuals in four communities, modelled after the initial pilot program, from September 2013 to May 2014. In June 2014, the program restarted, thanks to support from the Waldensian Church in Italy, lasting until June 2015. ^[9][10]

Uganda

A program in Uganda randomly awarded a fixed amount of money to 535 young applicants aged 15-35. The results showed that "the program increases business assets by 57%, work hours by 17%, and earnings by 38%"^[11]

Asia

Madhya Pradesh, India

The basic income project in Madhya Pradesh, India, started in 2010, involves 20 villages.^[12] The villagers in eight of these got basic income and the other villagers were control groups. According to the first communication of the pilot projects, positive results were found.^[13] Villages spent more on food and healthcare, children's school performance improved in 68% of families, time spent in school nearly tripled, personal savings tripled, and new business startups doubled.^[14] The study also found an increase in economic activity as well as an increase in savings, an improvement in housing and sanitation, improved nutrition, less food poverty, improved health and schooling, greater inclusion of the disabled in society and a lack of frivolous spending.^[15]

Latin America

Bolsa Familia

Bolsa Familia is a Brazilian federal anti-poverty program with strong resemblance of basic income. It is a cash grant is given to families below a certain income level, provided they meet certain basic conditions such as sending their child to school. Other similar programmes exist in several Latin American countries, including the Oportunidades programme in Mexico.

Quatinga Velho

Quatinga Velho is a Brazilian village in the Quatinga district of the Mogi das Cruzes municipality, which is becoming well-known because of the basic income-project which is taking place there.^[16] The project started 2008 and is organized by the non-profit organization ReCivitas.^[17] The funding has so far been based entirely on private donations.^[18] In June 2011 83 people in the village got 30 Brazilian reals per person and month.^[19] The organization hopes that all people in the village will eventually get the basic income, and also that similar projects will get going in other villages in and outside Brazil. The organizers are currently building a social bank, so that the basic income in the future can be financed through investments rather than donations. The idea is that the bank will operate as an investment bank, but the profit will go to basic income instead of a dividend to shareholders and managers.^[20]

Europe

Netherlands

The City of Utrecht, the fourth most populated City of the Netherlands, is starting up a basic income experiment. However, the basic income will not go to everyone in the city, but to a group of people who already receives social security (that is, selective social security, benefits with conditions). The purpose is to see how payments without conditions, that is basic income, affects those people. For example if they are more likely to get a job. Besides Utrecht there are reportedly 30 other cities in Netherlands who also consider basic income experiments, supposedly along the same lines.^[21]

Finland

Sipilä Cabinet, elected in June 2015, is committed to implement a basic income experiment^[22] which will be conducted as a nationwide trial for two years from 2017.^[23]

Non-geographic basic income experiments

GiveDirectly

The philanthropy GiveDirectly has been researching the effects of unconditional cash transfers with randomized controlled trials in Kenya and Uganda since 2008. In 2013, they published a paper outlining the results of a two-year study on basic income in Kenya, looking at a wide variety of outcomes. ^[24] They are currently conducting two studies with separate research groups, composed of professors at various research universities in the United States.^[25] One is measuring impacts of cash transfers on macroeconomic activity ^[26] and the other is looking at the impact of different cash transfer designs. ^[27]

In 2016, GiveDirectly announced they would be launching a 10-year, $30 million pilot on universal basic income in Kenya. Regular stipends will be provided to all individuals in 30-50 test villages, to approximately 6000 people, while an additional 20,000 people will receive comparison cash transfer modes.^[28]

GiveDirectly is rated amongst the most deserving charities by charity-rating organisations GiveWell.^[29]

References