On Sept 20, I posted about an experiment that randomly assigned low-income families with newborns to receive an extra $333 or $20 per month. In that study, adding more income didn’t have much of an effect. This time, I’m sharing a somewhat similar experiment on basic income that is being conducted in Germany. In this study, adding income did affect people!
CNN introduces the German study:
Mein Grundeinkommen (My Basic Income), the Berlin-based non-profit that ran the German study, followed 122 people for three years. From June 2021 to May 2024, this group received an unconditional sum of €1,200 ($1,365) per month.
The study focused on people aged between 21 and 40 who lived alone and already earned between 1,100 euros (around $1,250) and 2,600 euros ($2,950) a month. They were free to use the extra money from the study on anything they wanted.
Over the course of three years, the only condition was that they had to fill out a questionnaire every six months that asked about different areas of their lives, including their financial situation, work patterns, mental well-being and social engagement.[…]
One concern voiced by critics is that receiving a basic income could make people less inclined to work. But the Grundeinkommen study … participants worked 40 hours a week and stayed in employment – identical to the study’s control group, which received no payment.
Unlike the control group, those receiving a basic income were more likely to change jobs or enroll in further education. They reported greater satisfaction in their working life – and were “significantly” more satisfied with their income.
It’s fun to explore the interactive webpage from the Grundeinkommen study. Explore it a bit, then come back here for some questions.
- The Grundeinkommen study was an experiment. Why?
- What was the main independent variable in the Grundeinkommen study? What were its levels?
- Name at least four dependent variables in the Grundeinkommen study, based on your reading.
- Pick at least one study result described in the CNN story, and then find the graph of that same result on the study’s home page. What did you notice?
- The Grundeinkommen study’s website is not the same as a peer-reviewed publication. Can you find any evidence that this research has been peer-reviewed?
- The two studies, Baby’s First Years and Grundeinkommen, reach different conclusions about what happens when you give people basic income. What are some differences between the two studies that might help us understand why they reach different conclusions? For example, one was done on Americans and one on Germans. Name three more important differences.