-By Natalie Clemente-
A U.S.-based charity group called GiveDirectly has been conducting an experiment on universal basic income in Kenya since 2017, and some of the first results have been released.
The program grants roughly $50 monthly to villagers across the country to find the impact of universal basic income on areas below the extreme poverty line. These early results come from the first two years of the experiment.
According to the researchers, the test groups who were given the grants used the money on investments and were overall more productive. Researchers stated that there was no evidence of the grant program promoting laziness, rather the recipients shifted to more self-employment work.
They also mentioned that they noticed a decrease in alcohol consumption among recipients compared to those who did not receive grant money.
Researchers called for governments to reconsider how they deliver cash aid to citizens as they found that short-term monthly payments were the least effective compared to lump sum and long-term payments.
Comments