• A Seattle basic income pilot gave low-income residents $500 a month, nearly doubling employment rates.
  • Some participants reported getting new housing, while others saw their employment incomes rise.
  • Basic income pilots nationwide have seen noteworthy success, despite conservative opposition.
  • @jj4211
    link
    152 months ago

    UBI doesn’t lend itself to “pilot” programs:

    A Seattle-area guaranteed basic income pilot gave low-income residents $500 a month

    102 participants

    Employment in the group nearly doubled

    So in a city with over 75,000 unemployed people, you saw at most 51 people get new jobs (didn’t see how many were unemployed) and not a lot of data about a control group and how they randomly fared over the same interval. Also, to the extent the 102 participants enjoyed advantaged situation, did that come at the opportunity cost for some others outside the group?

    To really try UBI, you need it pervasive and long term, like the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, but that’s a relatively low amount.