Are Universal Basic Income and Guaranteed Basic Income Programs Effective? a Review

Background and Purpose: Poverty continues to be a pervasive social issue within the United States despite a plethora of services and government means-based assistance programs. Numerous counties, cities, and states throughout the United States are currently implementing, have plans to implement, or are discussing the potential to implement universal basic income or guaranteed basic income programs. Supporters believe an individual's social, emotional, physical, and mental well-being would improve and benefit from an unrestricted and disposable income that could also stimulate the local economy. Critics are concerned with the exorbitant cost involved and the potential to create a disincentive to work, a shrinking labor force, poor spending habits, and inflation. Such programs are being touted despite limited outcome studies completed in the United States. This review questions if universal basic income and guaranteed basic income programs are effective overall and in turn if such programs should be implemented to decrease poverty rates within the United States.

Method: I examined four databases using the search terms ("guaranteed basic income" OR "universal basic income”) and ("RCT" OR "randomized controlled trial" OR "randomly controlled" OR "randomized control group" OR "randomly assigned" OR "randomly controlled experiment" OR "experimental studies" OR "experimental design" OR "clinical trial" OR "quasi-experimental design" OR "quasi-experimental") with the aims of identifying primary studies that reported outcomes of guaranteed basic income or universal basic income not limited to only the United States. In addition to the databases that were searched, I also searched grey literature to include final reports that were not published in peer-reviewed journals. The search included literature within the last ten years published in English.

Results: I identified an initial 142 studies related to the search terms and found six total articles that evaluated outcomes of guaranteed basic income or universal basic income using experimental designs both in the United States and outside.

Conclusion and Implications: Despite their recent popularity, there is little evidence that basic income programs implemented within the United States are effective simply because of the scarcity of outcome studies. Studies outside of the United States are limited as well, but overall show diverse benefits. While these studies may inform further discussion, decision-making, and planning for implementing similar programs within the United States, it is imperative to take into consideration the vast cultural, societal, economic, and political dissimilarities present.