What’s happened?
The first pilot programme trialling a universal basic income (UBI) in England has been announced, run by the thinktank Autonomy. During the scheme, lucky participants will be given £1,600 every month for two years, with no strings attached on what they do with the money – other than to let researchers monitor their spending and choices to understand how the money affects their lives. Meanwhile a not-so-lucky control sample has been recruited, so researchers can compare the life experiences of the two groups. Of course, the basic income paid out to the lucky participants isn’t really “universal”.