• Albuquerque is now funding a basic income project with its tax on recreational cannabis.
• The program targets vulnerable communities, providing $750 monthly payments to families.
• "This isn't just about allocating dollars. It's about delivering tangible benefits," a city councilor said.

Tax revenue on the sale of recreational marijuana has become a major source of income for states where it's legal.

New Mexico is now redistributing that money to communities it says need it most.

Some families in Albuquerque, New Mexico, started receiving monthly no-strings-attached payments this month as part of a new basic income project funded in part by tax revenue from recreational cannabis sales.

The city first approved the $4.02 million basic income plan in March. City revenue from marijuana sales is contributing more than $2 million to that total, according to a city press release.

The program is providing the $750 monthly payments to 80 families in two districts where students struggle with low academic performance. The city will also offer financial counseling to the families.

Albuquerque is not the first city in America to experiment with guaranteed basic income programs, which usually target vulnerable low-income populations like new moms, Black women, or trans people. Guaranteed basic income programs are different than a universal basic income, which would provide monthly support to an entire population, regardless of status.

Advocates for a basic income say it helps people in difficult financial situations find their footing. Basic income studies often show positive results. Recipients say it improves their housing security and mental health and even allows them to seek better jobs through education and more time to search.

It is not, however, without its critics. Lawmakers in South Dakota, Iowa, and Idaho have passed laws banning basic income programs at the city and county level They say the payments are akin to socialism and discourage recipients from working.

City officials in Albuquerque said in the press release that their basic income program is meant to help close the wealth gap. The city says it prioritizes recipients who are "negatively impacted by the criminalization of cannabis," such as Black, Native American, Asian, and Pacific Islanders, women, and low-income families.

"This program puts money where it's needed most, into the hands of struggling families working to build a better future," Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement. "Albuquerque is a city that will always fight to correct injustices and will push to help families get the tools they need to succeed with dignity."

City Councilor Klarissa Peña, who leads the city's Cannabis Equity and Community Reinvestment Fund, said in a statement that the program must show "clear implementation strategies and measurable outcomes."

"This isn't just about allocating dollars. It's about delivering tangible benefits to the communities disproportionately impacted by past injustices," she said. "We owe them more than good intentions. We owe them results."

• A German study found basic income recipients continued working despite monthly payments.
• The study challenges claims that basic income discourages work and promotes dependency.
• The idea of a basic income has gained traction globally in recent years.

Some critics of basic income programs say that giving people "free" money will make them less likely to work. But a new study from Germany has found the opposite.

The long-running basic income study, called Mein Grundeinkommen, or My Basic Income, found that people who received no-strings-attached payments continued to work despite receiving monthly checks.

"Contrary to widespread claims, receiving a universal basic income was not a reason for participants in the study to quit their jobs," the researchers said in their findings.

The study ran for three years, during which 122 participants received $1,200 monthly payments to spend however they wanted. The experiment also had a control group of 1,580 people who did not receive a basic income. In the findings, the researchers said that the percentage of participants who had a job remained "almost identical" in both the control group and the group receiving the basic income.

"There was also no change in the number of hours worked a week," the study says. "On average, all study participants worked 40 hours — with or without a basic income."

The idea of universal basic income, or UBI, has gained traction in the United States and other countries in recent years. A UBI is when a government cuts a regular check to its entire population regardless of financial status to support, but not replace, their income.

Numerous cities and counties in the United States have also experimented with guaranteed basic income programs. These programs are similar to a UBI because they both provide no-strings-attached payments, but a guaranteed basic income typically goes to smaller, low-income groups, or vulnerable populations like new moms, Black women, or trans people.

Critics of these programs have likened them to "socialism."

In 2024, lawmakers in South Dakota, Iowa, and Idaho passed laws banning basic income programs at the city and county level. Republican State Sen. John Wiik, who sponsored the bill in South Dakota, said in a Senate committee meeting that basic income programs are a "socialist idea" that redistributes people's hard-earned money.

"Guaranteed income programs, also known as basic income, undercut the dignity in earning a dollar, and they're a one-way ticket to government dependency," Wiik said.

The German study, however, found that recipients maintained steady employment, showed improved mental health, strengthened self-determination, and improved financial stability.

"With a basic income, people actively build sustainable financial security for themselves — and also spend more money on others," the study says.

Jürgen Schupp, a researcher for the study, said that the results, particularly those related to labor, show that many clichés about universal basic income need to be reconsidered.

"I believe that for the urgently needed restructuring of social systems, all reform options must be considered — including universal basic income," he said in the report.

• The concept of universal basic income has a long history.
• Figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Richard Nixon supported versions of UBI.
• Now, the US and other countries have experimented with active basic income programs.

Over the last few years, as average Americans have wrestled with a growing wealth gap and rising prices, policymakers have been tossing around an audacious idea: What if we just give people money to help them?

The concept of a universal basic income is pretty simple. To help support a population, the government gives it no-strings-attached funds to bolster their finances.

Despite vigorous debate over UBI, some American cities and counties are now experimenting with guaranteed basic income, a pared-down version of UBI in which a subset of the population receives funds for a limited time period, usually about 12 to 18 months.

In the cities and US states that have tried basic income programs, recipients have said it helped them secure better housing and jobs, improved their food security, and ultimately live healthier lives.

A basic income, whether guaranteed or universal, may seem like a revolutionary concept, but it's actually been debated in American politics for centuries, dating back to the nation's founding.

A concept as old as the nation itself

In the 1790s, Thomas Paine, one of the country's Founding Fathers, argued in favor of multiple lump sum payments similar to a modern UBI. One of the payments would have been dispersed when a person reached adulthood, paid for with funds from property taxes.

In his pamphlet called "Agrarian Justice," Paine said people were owed this money because private land ownership prevented them from hunting and farming freely. Paine suggested another series of payments for people at retirement age.

One of Paine's contemporaries, Thomas Spence, an English activist in the mid-19th century, called for payments that mirrored the modern idea of UBI much more directly: He suggested higher property taxes to support an unconditional cash income for the entire population.

It took centuries, but Paine's and Spence's ideas hit the mainstream in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Richard Nixon supported a basic income

Martin Luther King Jr. promoted a basic income in the 1960s as a form of economic equality, noting that poverty impacts both white and Black Americans.

"I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income," King wrote in his 1967 book, "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?"

Two years later, President Richard Nixon issued a similar proclamation with some caveats that reflect modern-day objections, like the idea that direct cash payments will discourage recipients from working. He called it a "Family Assistance Plan."

"For a family of four now on welfare, with no outside income, the basic federal payment would be $1,600 a year," Nixon said. "A guaranteed income would undermine the incentive to work; the family assistance plan that I propose increases the incentive to work. A guaranteed income establishes a right without any responsibilities; family assistance recognizes a need and establishes a responsibility."

Despite years of advocacy, Congress never passed Nixon's plan. Instead, conservatives like President Ronald Reagan ushered in a new era of anti-welfare sentiment, though UBI and welfare differ in many ways.

That didn't stop states and cities from trying, however.

Another program launched in the 1970s that shares the spirit of universal basic income is the Alaska Permanent Fund, which distributes lump sums of money to residents as annual dividends depending on the state's oil revenue.

While American politicians and public figures have scratched their heads on whether and how to implement basic income in the United States in modern times, other countries have made it work at varying scales.

A number of countries have tried basic income programs. For instance, Canada launched a basic income experiment about 50 years ago that continues today. It helps youth transitioning out of foster care. Nations such as Finland, Italy, and Uganda, among others, have also implemented pilot programs in the past.

Modern iterations of UBI

Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur, revived the debate around a universal basic income when he ran for president in 2020. He proposed giving every adult $1,000 a month as part of what he called a "Freedom Dividend." Yang's candidacy ultimately fizzled, along with the basic income debate.

After the success of pandemic-era stimulus checks, however, as well as interest from Silicon Valley leaders like Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — who worry AI could make UBI necessary if humans lose their jobs en masse — basic income experiments are now popping up around the country.

The Stanford Basic Income Lab says the United States now has the most active basic income programs in the world. The programs vary in scale, targeting hundreds to thousands of people. Altman backed one of the largest basic income programs ever. It spanned three states and targeted 3,000 people.

More localized programs have also seen success. A Birmingham basic income program helped single mothers afford childcare, for instance, and a similar basic income program in New Mexico helped immigrant families pay their rent and secure work. A program in Los Angeles prompted local officials to try a basic income program for survivors of domestic violence.

Basic income has also been on political ballots. A recent basic income proposal in Oregon would have given all state residents a $1,600 annual rebate by implementing a 3% tax on corporations in the state once they hit a certain revenue threshold. The opposition effort raised millions to fight the ballot measure, which was ultimately defeated in the November election.

"Oregonians overwhelmingly believe that corporations should start paying their fair share in taxes and that today's economy is rigged against us," the organizers behind the proposal said after its election defeat. "We will continue to fight for a fairer and more just economy for Oregon."

While interest in a basic income is growing, so is political opposition. There have been legal challenges to basic income programs in Houston and San Francisco and legislation introduced in Iowa and elsewhere that would prevent local governments from launching basic income studies.

And as President Donald Trump's administration looks to reduce government spending, the possibility of a federal universal basic income is likely on hold.

• Universal basic income was once thought politically impossible. Then came Andrew Yang and COVID-19.
• Basic income programs are now gaining traction, offering payments to struggling families.
• Many Democrats and Republicans, however, are engaged in a political tug-of-war over the programs.

While the idea of a universal basic income is gaining traction in the United States, the politics around it remain divided.

A universal basic income is when the government cuts a check to the entire population — with no strings or limitations attached — to support (but not replace) their income.

It's not a new concept, but the feasibility of a universal basic income became more apparent during the pandemic when the government sent several payments to most of the population, known as "stimulus checks." The idea has also been heavily promoted by tech industry leaders, who anticipate possible job losses with the onset of artificial intelligence. Outside the United States, there are already some countries with universal basic income and guaranteed basic income programs.

While a national UBI program may still be a long way off in the United States, communities on the city and state levels have begun experimenting with a version called a guaranteed basic income.

In these programs, money is given to participants who comprise smaller population groups, like low-income people or mothers, for a limited time. Those residents can still spend the money however they want.

Even these localized basic income programs, however, are coming up against political opposition.

Here's a look at the politics driving the debate about universal and guaranteed basic income programs.

The rise of basic income programs

In the last decade, UBI has edged its way into the national vernacular.

Entrepreneurs and tech executives like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg voiced support for UBI in 2016 and 2017, respectively, citing the impact automation would have on the job force. Meanwhile, Joe Biden, then the vice president, wrote in 2017 that there was "a better way forward" than "some type of guaranteed government check with no strings attached."

During the 2020 presidential election campaign, Democratic candidate Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur, raised eyebrows when he proclaimed that, if elected, his administration would provide a universal basic income of $1,000 a month for every adult, a policy he called "The Freedom Dividend." Yang said this was necessary to support American workers threatened by automation and inequality.

At the time, many dismissed Yang's predictions as a pipe dream at best and fear-mongering at worst. His candidacy quickly faded.

Then, a few years later, the COVID-19 pandemic forced most Americans home and many of them out of work. Suddenly, Yang's idea for a universal basic income became less outlandish.

"Certainly I never imagined that I would suspend my campaign in February and then we would agree to pay $1,000 a month to Americans in March," Yang told Politico in March 2020 after the Trump administration announced it intended to disperse stimulus checks.

The federal government, first under President Donald Trump and then President Joe Biden, sent three stimulus checks ranging from $600 to $1,400 for adults and additional payments for each child in a family. Over $800 billion in funds were disbursed from 2020 to 2021, lifting some 3 million children out of poverty.

The apparent success of the stimulus checks inspired advocacy groups and local and city governments to begin trying them on a smaller scale, giving rise to the numerous guaranteed basic income programs in the United States seen today.

One of the largest of these programs was funded in part by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has advocated for some kind of basic income to alleviate the threat of artificial intelligence to US workers. The program distributed $1,000 a month to 1,000 people and $50 a month to another 2,000 (the control group) across multiple states over the course of three years.

Those who received the cash payments reported "greater agency to make decisions that worked best for their lives," including their living situations, healthcare decisions, and savings.

The political challenges to basic income programs

Not everyone, however, is on board with the small-scale basic income programs.

Basic income programs are often accompanied by studies that examine their success. Many participants report improved housing and food security during the program and say they can find better jobs or pursue a higher level of education as a result.

Yet opposition to universal and guaranteed basic income has been fierce in some places. Post-pandemic, the resistance to UBI has been mostly spearheaded by Republicans, while Democrats have typically been among UBI's most ardent supporters.

Republicans who talk about the cons of universal basic income often mention the cost of running the programs and the precedent they set for workers. Some conservative lawmakers have criticized the programs as "socialist" handouts and expressed concern that they could discourage recipients from working.

Last year, Republicans in Arizona voted to ban basic income programs in the state, and similar opposition efforts gained traction in Iowa, Texas, and South Dakota. Lawmakers in several states have argued that the checks, though distributed only for a limited time, would increase reliance on the government.

"This is socialism on steroids. This is a redistribution of wealth. This is an attack on American values," Iowa State Rep. Steve Holt said in 2024 while advocating for a statewide block to guaranteed basic income programs.

Some critics also point to the targeted nature of the payments, some of which have been used to support specific populations based on race or identity.

A conservative group last year sued to stop a San Francisco basic income program from sending payments to 55 vulnerable trans residents. The initiative accepted trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and intersex applicants and prioritized those who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color. Judicial Watch, a conservative legal activist group, said in its lawsuit that the program violated the equal protection clause of the California constitution.

Another conservative lawsuit targeted the Abundant Birth Project, a basic-income program also in San Francisco that gave pregnant Black women $1,000 a month, calling it discriminatory because it used taxpayer money to provide the payments based on unlawful classifications, including race.

• AI advances could widen wealth gaps, which has prompted calls for a universal basic income.
• UBI offers recurring cash payments to all adults in a population, regardless of status.
• AI leaders such as Elon Musk and Sam Altman have called for a universal basic income.

Universal basic income, once a utopian ideal, has become a hot topic among AI leaders.

It's a recurring cash payment made to all adults in a certain population, regardless of their wealth and employment status. There are no restrictions on how recipients spend their money.

As advancements in artificial intelligence technology drive economic growth, concerns are rising about whether the wealth it generates is shared equitably.

Industry leaders such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and AI's "godfather," Geoffrey Hinton, have warned about AI's potential to eliminate jobs — and subsequently widen the wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots. They, along with other tech leaders, are advocates of universal basic income as an antidote.

The concept of countries implementing universal basic income has shifted in recent years from a niche topic within tech circles to a mainstream conversation, thanks in part to the former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who made UBI a central part of his platform in 2020.

Yang campaigned on what he called the "Freedom Dividend," monthly $1,000 payments with no strings attached to all American adults. The idea was met with skepticism, and Yang's candidacy quickly fizzled. After the success of pandemic-era stimulus checks, though, and now the rise of AI, the idea has gained new traction.

Guaranteed basic income, which is similar to UBI but targets specific groups of people for a set period of time, has been piloted over 100 times across the country. The United States has basic income programs in 16 states, along with Washington, DC, that give residents cash — no strings attached.

The movement toward basic income programs is not without its critics. Some argue the programs could disincentivize recipients to work or even encourage them to spend frivolously. Some say the expenses of basic income programs could lead to higher taxes or local government budget cuts.

For now, though, AI leaders say it's the best option to mitigate the adverse economic impacts the technology could have. Here's what some of the major AI figures are saying about UBI.

Sam Altman

Altman has long been a vocal proponent of universal basic income.

In July, the results of Altman's universal basic income study were published. The study, which began in 2019, was conducted by the nonprofit research lab OpenResearch, and OpenAI contributed $60 million to it — $14 million of which was Altman's own money.

The study distributed payments to 3,000 urban, suburban, and rural residents of Texas and Illinois, all of whom had annual incomes below $28,000. One-third received $1,000 a month for three years, while the rest received $50 a month.

The study found that those who received the $1,000 payments increased their overall spending by an average of $310 a month, but most of that spending went toward food, rent, and transportation.

"We do see significant reductions in stress, mental distress, and food insecurity during the first year, but those effects fade out by the second and third years of the program," the report said, adding: "Cash alone cannot address challenges such as chronic health conditions, lack of childcare, or the high cost of housing."

But that's not Altman's only UBI endeavor. He also has a futuristic cryptocurrency startup called Worldcoin, which aims to build the largest encrypted identity network in the world by scanning people's irises with a baseball-sized orb. One way this technology could be implemented, its founders say, is to underpin the network that lets it collect UBI.

As OpenAI continues to build more capable foundation models, Altman has also suggested that rationing their computational resources across individuals might be more economically efficient than distributing cash. Altman has floated the idea of a "universal basic compute" in which people would get a "slice" of the computational resources of the company's large language models that they could use however they liked.

Elon Musk

Musk is a champion of UBI. The world's richest man has said that universal basic income could give people more freedom over how they use their time and money and that AI would increase the share of UBI that people could receive.

In May 2024 at the annual technology conference VivaTech, Musk said: "In a benign scenario, probably none of us will have a job. There would be universal high income. There would be no shortage of goods and services. The question will really be one of meaning: If a computer can do, and the robots can do, everything better than you, does your life have meaning? I do think there's perhaps still a role for humans in that we may give AI meaning."

Vinod Khosla

Khosla says AI advancements will cause job losses by automating, the majority of human labor and that UBI will be a necessary safety net.

"As AI reduces the need for human labor, UBI could become crucial, with governments playing a key role in regulating AI's impact and ensuring equitable wealth distribution," Khosla wrote in a post on the website for Khosla Ventures, his firm, in September 2024.

Unlike the internet or mobile phones, which have assisted human workers, he wrote that AI "amplifies and multiplies the human brain much as the advent of steam engines and motors amplified muscle power." In other words, he suggests humans will be too slow and expensive to contribute meaningfully to the labor force in the age of AI.

Dario Amodei

Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, has said UBI is the least that can be done to mitigate the effects of AI.

"Civilization has successfully navigated major economic shifts in the past: from hunter-gathering to farming, farming to feudalism, and feudalism to industrialism. I suspect that some new and stranger thing will be needed, and that it's something no one today has done a good job of envisioning. It could be as simple as a large universal basic income for everyone, although I suspect that will only be a small part of a solution," he wrote in an essay on his personal blog in October 2024.

In Amodei's opinion, AI will alter our world in such a fundamental way that we'll need to think about a more comprehensive solution to inequality.

Andrew Yang

Even before AI took the world by storm, Yang, an entrepreneur and lobbyist, was a proponent of universal basic income. He advocated giving all Americans a $2,000 monthly stipend for the duration of the pandemic.

In Yang's interview with Business Insider in June 2020, a few months after he dropped his presidential campaign, Yang said he was "very confident that universal basic income was the future of our country."

Geoffrey Hinton

Hinton, the "godfather" of AI, has expressed concerns about the ramifications of AI.

Hinton has discussed his fears about AI-induced job losses and advised the UK government to adopt universal basic income as a solution.

• Gainesville and Durham piloted guaranteed basic income for formerly incarcerated people.
• Many formerly incarcerated people in the US do not have access to traditional social safety nets.
• Participants reported better financial resilience but struggled with housing costs after the program.

Six hundred dollars a month was the boost some formerly incarcerated people needed to rent apartments, cover unexpected expenses, and land steady jobs.

Gainesville, Florida, and Durham, North Carolina, recently tried using cash aid to help alleviate financial instability among formerly incarcerated residents, a demographic that is especially vulnerable to homelessness and food insecurity. Guaranteed basic income — which offers participants no-strings-attached payments — has been piloted across America as an approach to poverty reduction.

The cities aren't the only places that have tried similar cash aid programs: the Center for Employment Opportunities gave cash to over 10,000 formerly incarcerated people across the US in 2020.

In Gainesville, 115 participants received an initial $1,000 payment followed by $600 a month for 11 months, ending in spring 2023. In Durham, 109 participants received $600 a month for one year, ending in spring 2023.

Both participant cohorts were compared to control groups of formerly incarcerated people who did not receive GBI, and the pilot results were published by the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania in February. The results are based on interviews with participants and surveys that were completed before, during, and six months after the program.

While some Gainesville and Durham participants struggled to maintain financial gains after their cash payments ended, most said the money allowed them to afford essentials and alleviated some stress, which helped their mental health. Rent, groceries, and household bills were commonly reported uses of the GBI payments.

"Guaranteed income really is just a tool to ensure, in the Gainesville and Durham cases especially, that no one is too poor to be free," said Sukhi Samra, executive director of the advocacy group Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, which partnered on the pilots. "We're not trapping people in a culture of poverty and in a culture of scarcity and lack."

Cash helped formerly incarcerated people afford essentials

Formerly incarcerated people face higher rates of financial insecurity and unemployment compared to the rest of the population. This can make it difficult to afford basic needs. Per data published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2022, the most recent year available, about a third of formerly incarcerated individuals aren't hired in the four years after their release. Black people were also admitted to jail at more than four times the rate of white people as of 2022.

Most states give incarcerated people a small amount of money — between $10 and $200 — when they leave a prison or jail. However, some states restrict access to safety nets for formally incarcerated people. For example, Florida prohibits people who have been convicted of drug trafficking from accessing safety nets like SNAP and TANF.

Brianna Seid, a lawyer for the justice program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told Business Insider that $10 or $200 might help buy a train or bus ticket home, but it isn't near enough to pay court fees, lease an apartment, afford childcare, or establish reliable transportation — especially if people face limited access to safety nets.

"There's this idea that people get arrested or convicted, go to prison, and leave, and that's just the end of the punishment," Seid said. "I think for a lot of people, they don't understand the ways that we excessively and perpetually punish people for having a criminal conviction, and it really touches every area of your life."

Cash is a potential way to ease work and income barriers, she said.

In the Gainesville pilot, participants reported that guaranteed basic income helped them secure housing, have more hope, increase financial resiliency, and put food on the table. The share of participants who said they were "worried about having enough food" decreased from 59% at the start of the program to 49% six months after payments ended. The number of participants employed full-time also increased from 12% to 17% during that time.

Durham participants reported using GBI money to buy hygiene products, afford food, and build savings. The percentage of participants "worried about having enough food" also decreased from 59% at the start of the program to 44% six months after payments ended. Over that same period, the share of participants who felt they had enough money to support themselves rose from 3.7% to 18.35%.

Samra added that many participants in both Gainesville and Durham said that having extra cash helped them better adhere to probation requirements and prevent further arrests.

Many participants struggled with housing costs after the programs ended

Six months into receiving cash, 3% of Gainesville participants said they were experiencing homelessness. But six months after GBI ended, that figure had risen to 12%. In Durham, results showed that 29% of participants were severely housing-cost-burdened six months into the program, a number that rose to 41% six months after payments ended.

At the same time, Samra said that guaranteed basic income isn't meant to be a cure-all poverty solution. GBI pilots are temporary, and she said the financial challenges some participants faced after the program show that more support is needed.

For Samra, there's one major takeaway from the results: financial support is a step toward keeping people out of the prison system.

"These results show that if you provide a little bit of cash support, you're allowing folks the space and the ability to not only re-enter and breathe," she said. "And prevent the sort of harm and activities that they wouldn't be doing if it weren't for a simple lack of cash."

• Universal basic income in the UK is politically controversial.
• The prime minister has previously said he "isn't attracted" to UBI and prefers retraining workers.
• Wales launched a small basic-income pilot in 2022 that ends this year.

Governments around the world are testing programs that give people money with no strings attached.

That includes the Welsh government in the UK, which in 2022 launched the first guaranteed-basic-income pilot in the country. The program, called Basic Income for Care Leavers, gave 638 young adults leaving the foster-care or local authority-care system a monthly payment of about £1,280, or $1,580, after taxes that they could spend on whatever they wanted.

The pilot is set to wrap up this year, and its results could inform a controversial debate in the UK over basic income. Guaranteed basic income offers recurring cash payments for a set period of time to a specific group of people, like mothers or artists. Universal basic income provides recurring cash payments to all people in a population, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Countries testing basic income include the US, Canada, and Kenya. Supporters of basic income argue that it can address growing inequality and insulate workers from economic recessions and technological advances like artificial intelligence, while opponents are concerned that basic income disincentives work and that programs are too expensive to implement.

"There is experimentation going on, and there is a familiarity within policy circles, but it's still quite a controversial idea," said Jack Kellam, a spokesperson for the Autonomy Institute, a UK think tank that studies how to reshape work to address modern crises. "That's why people are cautious about touching it within mainstream politics."

Nearly half the 2,233 Britons in a July YouGov survey said they supported the idea of introducing UBI in the UK, while one-third opposed it.

Hurdles for basic income in the UK

One of the arguments against basic income is the price tag. Estimates of the cost in the UK are wide-ranging. A Georgetown University study published in 2023 found that implementing UBI in the country would cost about £45 billion a year, or 2% of its GDP. A working paper by the Institute for Policy Research in 2017 estimated it would cost more than £427 billion annually.

Smaller guaranteed-basic-income programs can be easier to implement. For example, the Welsh government allocated about £20 million over three years for its pilot.

The pilot hasn't been without controversy. The UK government, which in 2022 was controlled by the Conservative Party, opposed the Wales pilot and said UBI would discourage work and require significant tax increases to fund. Britain's Labour Party swept to power in July, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously said he "isn't attracted" to UBI in response to advances in AI. He said the focus should be on retraining workers.

The Labour Party also controls the Welsh Parliament, but Kellam said that in Wales the party tends to be more progressive than its national counterpart.

The Autonomy Institute in 2023 proposed its own basic-income micropilot in the UK for 15 people, but Kellam said it hadn't attracted a funder yet. He hopes the results of the pilot in Wales, as well as emerging research in the US indicating the success of similar pilots, will create some momentum.

An analysis of 30 basic-income pilots in the US by the Guaranteed Income Pilots Dashboard — a research group that visualizes data from the programs — involving nearly 8,500 participants found more than half the cash grants went toward food and groceries, transportation, housing, utilities, healthcare, and education. Smaller basic-income studies and experiments found that cash payments helped participants earn higher wages, boosted job satisfaction, and improved productivity.

Kellam said another obstacle to implementing basic income in the UK is the government's centralized structure, which thwarts local leaders' ability to launch their own basic income pilots, like in the US.

"In the US, a lot of these trials are taking place at the town and city level," Kellam said. "We lack a lot of that infrastructure in the UK. We're involved in some of the discussions at local councils. But it's seen as less politically contagious."

• Universal basic income is recurring cash payments for participants, no strings attached.
• Traditional welfare restricts spending to specific categories, like healthcare or groceries.
• Basic-income policy could supplement welfare but likely wouldn't replace the existing safety net.

As America's cities look to alleviate poverty, universal basic income has been proposed by local leaders as a complement to existing welfare.

With a housing-affordability crisis and high healthcare costs, more Americans are leaning on government aid than in previous decades. Government transfers of funds from safety nets such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid accounted for about 18% of total personal income in the US in 2022, a 9-percentage-point increase from 1970, the equivalent of $3.8 trillion, per an Economic Innovation Group analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census data between 1969 and 2022.

Giving people no-strings-attached cash has been piloted in over 100 areas, including Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago, as a supplement to existing aid programs. It offers participants cash to spend on whatever they choose, rather than being restricted to a specific category, as with SNAP and Medicaid.

Some economic-security advocates have told Business Insider that recurring cash payments give families a financial boost to pay bills and land stable work, and tech leaders like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have suggested that basic income might become necessary as artificial intelligence disrupts the job market.

With Republicans set to hold a majority in Congress and President-elect Donald Trump about to return to the White House for his second term, the country's budget and policy priorities for welfare programs could change, shaping how benefits are funded and who qualifies.

BI looked at the distinctions between basic income and welfare, and what it means for future benefit programs.

How does UBI differ from welfare?

The US's welfare system — also known as the social safety net — consists of a series of federally funded programs that help lower-income people afford essentials. This includes SNAP for food, Medicaid for healthcare, housing vouchers, Social Security, and various programs for families with young children.

Largely, welfare is part of the federal budget, though most states have localized programs, too. Beneficiaries must have a household income near the federal poverty line and are restricted in where they can spend the benefit money. SNAP, for example, covers most food at the grocery store but cannot be used to buy personal-hygiene items like toothpaste or soap.

Basic income, by contrast, is a set of recurring cash payments that can be spent however participants choose. There are two main types of basic income: universal basic income and guaranteed basic income. UBI programs give payments to all members of a population, regardless of income, and don't have an end date. GBI programs give payments to a specific group of the population — such as people experiencing homelessness, single parents, or low-income artists — for a set period of time, typically one to five years. Most of the basic-income pilots in the US have been short-term GBI, not UBI. Other countries have also run GBI pilots.

Could UBI replace welfare?

Basic income is unlikely to replace the existing safety net because of funding and political challenges.

US GBI pilots are financed through a combination of government funds and philanthropy. Still, most of those programs are limited to a couple hundred people for a set period, meaning they cost funders a few million dollars.

Sustaining UBI across the country would require more significant funding through a value-added tax, a progressive tax system based on wealth, or a tax on resources, like a carbon tax. The Alaska Permanent Fund, for example, gives residents an annual stipend that's drawn from the state's oil revenue.

True UBI hasn't been implemented in the US, but some politicians have introduced basic-income policies. During his campaign for the 2020 Democratic primaries, the former presidential candidate Andrew Yang proposed a "Freedom Dividend," which would've given $1,000 monthly to every American over the age of 18. The 2020 census found there were about 258 million Americans over 18, which would've made the total gross cost of that plan more than $3 trillion each year. Yang suggested the dividend be funded through a value-added retail tax.

For comparison, the Social Security Administration reported in 2024 that the benefits cost $1.5 trillion annually. The average monthly payments were $1,788 in November and are largely funded through payroll taxes. Seventy-two million older adults and people with disabilities currently receive benefits.

Any federal change to the social safety net would also need congressional approval. Many Republican leaders have opposed implementing ongoing basic income, arguing that it's not financially sustainable and gives people "free money."

"We were never designed to have the federal government supply a salary," Rep. John Gillette of the Arizona House of Representatives previously told BI.

Is UBI a better alternative to welfare?

In most of America's basic-income pilots, cash aid is seen as a supplement to welfare programs, not a replacement. GBI pilot leaders often consult with participants to ensure their basic income will not disqualify them from means-tested programs like SNAP or Medicaid.

Basic-income participants have told BI that the cash helps them afford essentials that might not be covered by traditional safety nets: such as a new crib for their baby, school supplies for their kids, steady childcare, and car repairs.

"Anyone who's had a child knows that this is not like a luxury income," a new mom in Michigan receiving $500 a month previously told BI. "This is just assisting us in our time of need."

Some Republicans and economists have argued against basic income, calling it a "welfare trap" and an "unconstitutional" use of public money. This has led to states such as Iowa and Arizona introducing basic-income bans and lawsuits against GBI programs in Missouri and Texas.

Research from recent GBI pilots suggests that basic income can help lower rates of domestic violence, aid participants in landing higher-paying jobs, and increase housing and food security. Some financial-security advocates also say that basic income can boost local economies by making it easier for lower-income people to maintain steady work and buy consumer goods.

"We are allowing folks to stabilize and to then plan for the future," Sukhi Samra, the executive director of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a national advocacy network, previously told BI.

To be sure, much of basic-income research is based on short-term trials. Basic income's financial impact on participants in the long run remains unclear, and some participants struggle to afford essentials after their programs end.

Traditional safety-net programs typically do not have an end date, and participants can continue to receive benefits as long as their household income meets qualification thresholds.

• Sam Altman's basic-income study showed recipients valued work more after getting monthly payments.
• The finding challenges arguments against such programs that say a basic income discourages work.
• Participants got $1,000 a month for three years, making it one of the largest studies of its kind.

New findings from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's basic-income study found that recipients valued work more after receiving no-strings-attached recurring monthly payments, challenging a long-held argument against such programs.

Altman's basic-income study, which published initial findings in July, was one of the largest of its kind. It gave low-income participants $1,000 a month for three years to spend however they wanted.

Participants reported significant reductions in stress, mental distress, and food insecurity during the first year, though those effects faded by the second and third years of the program.

"Cash alone cannot address challenges such as chronic health conditions, lack of childcare, or the high cost of housing," the first report in July said.

In its new paper, researchers studied the effect the payments had on recipients' political views and participation, as well as their attitudes toward work.

They found little to no change in their politics, including their views on a broader cash program.

"It's sort of fascinating, and it underscores the kind of durability of people's political views that lots of people who felt kind of mildly supportive of programs like this before, they stay mildly supportive; people who were opposed, they stay opposed," David Broockman, coauthor of the study, told Business Insider.

Universal basic income has become a flashy idea in the tech industry, as leaders like Altman and newly minted government efficiency chief Elon Musk see it as a way to mitigate AI's potential impact on jobs.

Still, enacting universal basic income as a political policy is a heavy lift, so several cities and states have experimented with small-scale guaranteed basic incomes instead. These programs provide cash payments without restrictions to select low-income or vulnerable populations.

Data from dozens of these smaller programs have found that cash payments can help alleviate homelessness, unemployment, and food insecurity — though results still stress the need for local and state governments to invest in social services and housing infrastructure.

Critics say basic income programs — whether guaranteed or universal — won't be effective because they encourage laziness and discourage work.

However, OpenResearch director Elizabeth Rhodes told BI that the study participants showed a "greater sense of the intrinsic value of work."

Rhodes said researchers saw a strong belief among participants that work should be required to receive government support through programs like Medicaid or a hypothetical future unconditional cash program. The study did show a slight increase in unemployment among recipients, but Rhodes said that overall attitudes toward working remained the same.

"It is interesting that it is not like a change in the value of work," Rhodes said. "If anything, they value work more. And that is reflected. People are more likely to be searching for a job. They're more likely to have applied for jobs."

Broockman said the study's results can offer insights into how future basic income programs can be successful. Visibility and transparency will be key if basic income is tried as government policy because the government often spends money in ways that "people don't realize is government spending," Broockman said.

"Classic examples are things like the mortgage interest tax deduction, which is a huge break on taxes, a huge transfer to people with mortgages. A lot of people don't think of that as a government benefit they're getting, even though it's one of the biggest government benefits in the federal budget," Broockman said. "Insofar as a policy like this ever would be tried, trying to administer it in a way that is visible to people is really important."

Broockman added that the study's results don't necessarily confirm the fears or hopes expressed by skeptics or supporters of a basic income on either side of the aisle.

Conservative lawmakers in places like Texas, South Dakota, and Iowa have moved to block basic income programs, with much of the opposition coming from fears of creeping "socialism."

"For liberals, for example, a liberal hope and a conservative fear might be, people get this transfer, and then all of a sudden it transforms them into supporting much bigger redistribution, and we just don't find that," Broockman said.

Broockman said that many participants in the program would make comments like "Well, I used it well, but I think other people would waste it."

One hope from conservatives would be that once people become more economically stable, they could become more economically conservative, but Broockman said the study results do not indicate that either.

Broockman said that an unconditional cash program like this "might not change politics or people's political views per se" but that its apolitical nature could possibly "speak well to the political viability of a program like this."

• Guaranteed basic-income programs can help low-income participants afford necessities like rent.
• More than 100 US cities and counties have tried GBI, offering cash for housing and groceries. 
• Despite legislative opposition, basic-income programs remain active across the country.

Basic income gives many participants the financial boost they need to afford necessities.

Shamarra Woods, a 31-year-old Atlanta resident, spent basic income on bills and day care for her toddler.

For Jennette Fisher, 46, $500 a month allowed her to sign a lease for an apartment in a quiet Chicago suburb with her daughter.

"It took such a weight off," Fisher previously told Business Insider. "If I wouldn't have had that money, I don't know what would have happened."

Guaranteed basic income has become an increasingly popular strategy to approach poverty in US cities. More than 100 municipalities have tried the GBI model since 2019, offering low-income participants between $50 and $2,000 a month, no strings attached, for a set time period.

What makes basic income different from traditional social services is the element of choice. Most participants told BI they spent basic income on housing, groceries, transportation, and debt repayment — wherever they needed it the most.

Typically, participants fall below the federal poverty line. Some programs have focused on specific populations, such as new and expecting mothers, households with children, or people experiencing homelessness.

Basic-income pilots have been completed in cities and counties in Alabama, Virginia, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, and Oklahoma, among other states. The Alaska Permanent Fund is similar to UBI, and several countries have basic-income programs.

GBI varies slightly from universal basic income, which also offers participants no-strings-attached cash payments but has no set time period. It's also not limited to participants in a specific demographic or income bracket.

Local and federal leaders continue to weigh the pros and cons of UBI. Basic-income programs have faced legislative opposition from some Republican lawmakers, who say that basic income discourages work.

For example, Iowa passed a ban on GBI in April, and the Arizona House of Representatives voted in February to ban basic income. On April 23, the Texas Supreme Court placed a temporary block on a Houston-area basic income program that the attorney general called "unconstitutional."

Despite these political challenges, basic-income programs remain active across the country. Here's a breakdown of states, listed in alphabetical order, where cash payments are offered to low-income residents.

California

Location: Los Angeles County
Program name: Breathe
Duration: June 2022 to August 2025
Income amount: $1,000 every month for three years
Number of participants: 1,000 low-income households

Location: Los Angeles
Program name: Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive (BOOST) program
Duration: fall 2024 to fall 2025
Income amount: $1,000 a month for 12 months
Number of participants: 250 students pursuing health careers in the Los Angeles Community College District

Location: Alameda County
Program: United Way Bay Area's GBI pilot
Duration: November 2024 to spring 2026
Income amount: initial $3,000 payment, then $1,000 a month for the next 12 months, with amounts tapering for the final six months
Number of participants: 100 local families

Location: Long Beach
Program name: Long Beach Pledge
Duration: spring 2024 to spring 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 12 months
Number of participants: 200 low-income households with children

Location: Mountain View
Program name: Elevate MV
Duration: December 2022 to December 2024
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 166 low-income parents

Location: Sonoma County
Program name: Pathway to Income Equity
Duration: January 2023 to January 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 305 low-income families

Location: Pomona
Program name: City of Pomona Household Universal Grants Pilot Program
Duration: summer 2024 to spring 2026
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 250 low-income families with children under 4 years old

Location: Humboldt County
Program name: Humboldt Income Program
Duration: on a rolling basis, beginning December 2023
Income amount: $920 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 150 low-income pregnant people

California has seen basic income programs in Stockton, San Francisco, Marin County, Compton, Oakland, Santa Clara, and San Diego. In 2021, California's basic income efforts were granted $35 million for more GBI pilots over five years, and a bill being heard in the California Senate would provide GBI starting in August for students experiencing homelessness.

Colorado

Location: Boulder
Program name: Elevate Boulder
Duration: January 2024 to January 2026
Income amount: $500 a month for two years
Number of participants: 200 low-income households

Beginning in 2022, a basic-income program in Denver gave cash assistance to 800 people experiencing homelessness.

Georgia

Location: Atlanta, southwest Georgia, and College Park
Program name: In Her Hands
Duration: a first pilot from 2022 to 2024 and a second pilot that began in spring 2024
Income amount: average payments of $850 a month over 24 months for the first round
Number of participants: 650 low-income Black women

Illinois

Location: Cook County
Program name: Cook County Promise
Duration: December 2022 to December 2024
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 3,250 low- to moderate-income families

Location: Evanston
Program name: Guaranteed Income Program
Duration: A first round ran from December 2022 to December 2023, and applications for a second round were due in summer 2024.
Income amount: $500 a month for one year
Number of participants: 150 low-income families

Location: statewide
Program name: Empower Parenting with Resources
Duration: fall 2024 to fall 2026
Income amount: monthly payments for a year dependent on each participant's income and local cost of living
Number of participants: 400 families involved in the child-welfare system

Chicago previously ran the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot, providing basic income for 5,000 residents, and has set aside $32 million to relaunch the program. OpenAI's cofounder Sam Altman also sponsored a GBI program beginning in 2019 that gave 3,000 Texas and Illinois residents $1,000 a month for three years.

Iowa

Location: Polk, Dallas, and Warren counties
Program name: UpLift — The Central Iowa Basic Income Pilot
Duration: May 2023 to spring 2026
Income amount: $500 a month
Number of participants: 110 low-income households

Louisiana

Location: New Orleans
Program name: Rooted School: $50 Study
Duration: two phases, running from fall 2022 to summer 2024, with funding set aside to expand the program over the next three years
Income amount: $50 a week for the 40-week academic year
Number of participants: 800 New Orleans high-school students

A previous program in Shreveport gave 110 single parents $660 monthly for a year ending in February 2023. The New Orleans Guaranteed Income Program gave 125 young people disconnected from work or school $350 monthly between spring 2022 and spring 2023. A statewide basic-income pilot called the Truth and Reconciliation Project also gave 12 people described by the program as "survivors of police misconduct who did not receive restitution in the courts" $1,000 a month, with payments concluding in October.

Massachusetts

Location: Somerville
Program name: Somerville Guaranteed Basic Income Program
Duration: July 2024 to July 2025
Income amount: $750 a month for 12 months
Number of participants: 200 low-income families

Massachusetts has run basic income programs in Boston, Chelsea, and Cambridge.

Michigan

Location: Ann Arbor
Program name: Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor
Duration: January 2024 to December 2025
Income amount: $528 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 100 low-income entrepreneurs

Location: Flint
Program name: Rx Kids
Duration: January 2024 to spring 2025
Income amount: $1,500 lump sum, then $500 monthly payments during the first year of a baby's life
Number of participants: 1,200 new and expectant mothers

Minnesota

Location: statewide
Program name: Guaranteed Income for Artists
Duration: initially 18 months, extended to five years in summer 2024
Income amount: $500 month
Number of participants: 75 artists living in rural areas, plus 25 artists set to be added in 2024

St. Paul previously hosted an 18-month program for 150 low-income families, who received $500 a month beginning in fall 2020. A program in Minneapolis gave 200 families $500 a month.

Mississippi

Location: Jackson
Program name: Magnolia Mother's Trust
Duration: 12 months per pilot, ongoing
Income amount: $1,000 a month
Number of participants: over 400 low-income Black mothers since fall 2018

Missouri

Location: St. Louis
Program name: STL Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot
Duration: fall 2023 to spring 2025, with payments temporarily blocked in July by a lawsuit
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 540 low-income families with children

New York

Location: New York City, Rochester, and Buffalo
Program name: The Bridge Project
Duration: June 2021, ongoing
Income amount: up to $1,000 a month for three years
Number of participants: 1,200 low-income mothers

Location: Hudson
Program name: HudsonUp
Duration: five years, with staggered cohorts launched in fall 2020, 2021, and 2023
Income amount: $500 a month for five years
Number of participants: 128 households

A 17-month program in Ulster County that provided basic income to 100 households ended in September 2022. Another program in Ithaca gave a full year of cash payments to unpaid caregivers through May 2023. The nonprofit Creatives Rebuild New York also ran an 18-month basic-income pilot for artists affected by the pandemic, which ended in early 2024.

Oregon

Location: Portland
Program name: Black Resilience Fund
Duration: January 2023 to spring 2026
Income amount: up to $2,000 a month for three years
Number of participants: 25 Black households in Multnomah County

In November, voters opposed Oregon's universal-basic-income proposal to give all state residents $1,600 annually through taxing corporations.

Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia
Program name: PHLHousing+
Duration: fall 2022 to spring 2025
Income amount: $89 to $2,079 a month for 30 months, depending on household income
Number of participants: 300 renter households from the Philadelphia Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher or public-housing waitlist

Location: Philadelphia
Program name: Philly Joy Bank
Duration: launched in summer 2024
Income amount: $1,000 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 250 low-income pregnant people

Texas

Location: San Antonio
Program name: UpTogether San Antonio
Duration: summer 2023 to December 2024
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 25 low-income families

Location: Harris County
Program name: Uplift Harris
Duration: initially scheduled to begin in April 2024, but the Houston-area basic-income program is delayed because of a state Supreme Court ruling
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 1,928 low-income households

An earlier San Antonio program offered $5,108 to 1,000 families over a 25-month period that began in December 2020. The Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot gave its participants $1,000 a month ending in May 2023. Additionally, Altman's GBI program that began in 2019 gave 3,000 Texas and Illinois residents $1,000 a month for three years.

Virginia

Location: Richmond
Program name: Richmond Resilience Initiative
Duration: two-year program beginning October 2020, with staggered cohorts planned through spring 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 94 low-income families with children

Location: Alexandria
Program name: Alexandria Recurring Income for Success and Equity
Duration: spring 2023 to spring 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 170 low-income people