Economy & Business

The UBI Experiment

What Decades of Basic Income Trials Tell Us About the Future of Work and Welfare

Damon Jones

Economist at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, specializing in labor economics and public finance. He has conducted research on the effects of basic income programs.

March 20, 2026·8 min read

The UBI Experiment

Universal Basic Income — giving every citizen an unconditional cash payment — has been debated for decades. Now a wave of real-world experiments, from Finland to Kenya to Stockton, California, is providing evidence about its effects. The results challenge both the optimistic and pessimistic predictions.

TOPICS

UBIuniversal basic incomeeconomicswelfarefuture of work

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