Planning With a Basic Income

Problem, research strategy, and findings The rapid growth of basic income programs in U.S. cities raises questions about the contributions of no-strings-attached cash payments to common equity planning goals. Drawing on a database of more than 100 basic income trials and interviews with 75 program designers and administrators, we evaluated basic income's potential uses in planning. First, we analyzed evaluations of completed basic income trials, linking the policy's effects to common equity planning goals. Second, we identified pathways from basic income trials to permanent policy and program reform. We found that large-scale, public basic income trials are likely to lead to reform in state-level social policy and that private and hybrid programs have multiple pathways for renewal, expansion, and replication.