TIMELINE
Basic income experiments: a timeline
Major basic income and cash-transfer experiments and schemes around the world, in order. Results are as reported by each source, and only items we could source are listed.
- 1974–1979
Government
Mincome
Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada
- Run by
- Federal and Manitoba governments
- What was paid
- A guaranteed income floor every Dauphin resident could claim (reduced by 50% of other income)
- Result
- Evelyn Forget (2011) reported an 8.5% lower hospitalisation rate than controls; a 2022 reanalysis disputes the causal claim
- Source
- progress.org
- 1982–
Government
Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend
Alaska, USA
- Run by
- State of Alaska
- What was paid
- An annual dividend from the state fund to eligible residents; the first was $1,000 each, paid on 14 June 1982
- Source
- pfd.alaska.gov
- 2008–2009
NGO / research
Basic Income Grant (BIG) pilot
Otjivero, Namibia
- Run by
- The BIG Coalition of churches, unions and NGOs
- What was paid
- N$100 a month, no conditions, to every resident under 60 (privately funded)
- Result
- The coalition’s assessment reported better child nutrition and higher household incomes (an advocacy-linked evaluation)
- Source
- namibiadigitalrepository.com
- 2011–2013
NGO / research
Madhya Pradesh cash transfer pilots
Madhya Pradesh, India
- Run by
- SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association), funded by UNICEF
- What was paid
- Small monthly cash to every man, woman and child in eight randomly chosen villages for 17 months, with 12 control villages
- Result
- Evaluations were presented at a 2013 conference in New Delhi
- Source
- socioeco.org
- 2017–
NGO / research
GiveDirectly basic income study
Rural Kenya
- Run by
- GiveDirectly (evaluated by Abhijit Banerjee, Tavneet Suri and others)
- What was paid
- A little over $20 a month for 12 years to adults in the long-term group, alongside two-year, lump-sum and control groups
- Result
- Early results (2023) found the lump-sum group did better on many economic measures
- Source
- wunc.org
Related on this site: UBI organizations & projects: GiveDirectly
- 2017–2018
Government
Finland’s basic income experiment
Finland
- Run by
- Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland
- What was paid
- €560 a month for two years to 2,000 randomly chosen unemployed people
- Result
- The 2020 final evaluation found small employment effects and better wellbeing and mental health
- Source
- stm.fi
- 2017–2018
Government
Ontario Basic Income Pilot
Ontario, Canada (Hamilton, Lindsay, Thunder Bay and others)
- Run by
- Government of Ontario
- What was paid
- Up to C$16,989 a year for single people (less 50% of earnings) to about 4,000 participants
- Result
- Planned for three years; the new government announced its cancellation on 31 July 2018, after about one year
- Source
- globalnews.ca
- 2019–2021
NGO / research
Stockton SEED
Stockton, California, USA
- Run by
- Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration
- What was paid
- $500 a month for two years to 125 residents, with no spending restrictions
- Result
- Researchers reported recipients moved into full-time work at more than twice the rate of the control group
- Source
- cbsnews.com
- 2020–2023
NGO / research
OpenResearch Unconditional Cash Study
Illinois and Texas, USA
- Run by
- OpenResearch (formerly Y Combinator Research)
- What was paid
- $1,000 a month for three years to 1,000 people aged 21–40 (2,000 controls got $50 a month)
- Result
- First results (2024) found higher spending and slightly fewer hours worked
- Source
- openresearchlab.org
Related on this site: UBI organizations & projects: OpenResearch
- 2021–2024
NGO / research
Pilotprojekt Grundeinkommen
Germany
- Run by
- Mein Grundeinkommen with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW)
- What was paid
- €1,200 a month for three years (June 2021–May 2024) to about 120 people, funded by donations
- Result
- DIW reported in April 2025 that recipients did not significantly cut their working hours and that mental health and life satisfaction improved
- Source
- diw.de
Related on this site: Mein Grundeinkommen · UBI organizations & projects: Mein Grundeinkommen
- 2017
Crypto / community
Ğ1 (Duniter)
Worldwide, mostly French-speaking
- Run by
- The Duniter community
- What was paid
- A daily “Universal Dividend” for every member; launched on 8 March 2017 with 59 members
- Result
- Moved to Duniter v2 in March 2026
- Source
- duniter.org
Related on this site: Ğ1 (June) · UBI organizations & projects: Ğ1 (Duniter)
- 2025
Crypto / community
Circles 2.0
Worldwide
- Run by
- Gnosis
- What was paid
- Second version of a system where each person issues their own currency at 1 CRC an hour, launched in May 2025
- Source
- businesswire.com
Related on this site: Circles (Gnosis App) · UBI organizations & projects: Circles
- 2026
Crypto / community
World — WLD Airdrop
Worldwide
- Run by
- World (Tools for Humanity / World Foundation)
- What was paid
- Monthly WLD airdrops for World ID–verified people stopped taking new or renewed cycles on 1 June 2026
- Source
- support.world.org
Related on this site: The Free Lunch Graveyard
UBI organizations & projects · The Free Lunch Graveyard · Open-source basic income projects