ALAIN JOCARD
“The 122 participants will be paid 1200 euros a month over a three-year study period,” the initiative announced on Tuesday in Berlin. The payments are financed from donations, the project is scientifically evaluated as part of a long-term study.
Over 2 million applications
More than two million people applied to participate. “In the next three years we want to empirically research whether and how the unconditional, regular payment of a sum of money that covers more than the subsistence level actually works for people,” explained Jürgen Schupp from DIW Berlin, who is scientifically responsible for the project.
What is really true about the UBI?
The joint study by DIW Berlin and the My Basic Income Association aims to contribute to basic research on the unconditional basic income (UBI). «The debate about the unconditional basic income is shaped by ideological beliefs. We want to know what is really true about the UBI, ”explained the initiator Michael Bohmeyer. It is also a question of whether the beneficiaries use their new freedom for the benefit of society.
The study is also supported by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, the University of Cologne and the Technical University of Cologne through psychological, behavioral and qualitative research.
“The basic income is an investment in society as a whole”
In order to achieve statistically meaningful results, a limited, relatively homogeneous group is examined. The study results should be generalizable for the group of 21 to 40-year-olds with average incomes in one-person households in Germany.
«Essential life decisions are made in this age group. We are interested in whether and how an unconditional basic income affects these life decisions, ”explained Bohmeyer. “Since the basic income we tested is paid out individually, but current transfer income is calculated per household (community of needs), households with different numbers of people can only be compared to a limited extent”, Schupp explained the focus on one-person households.
Bohmeyer also pointed out that previous studies on the unconditional basic income had largely been limited to the socially disadvantaged. “Since the basic income should not be an emergency aid, but a universal investment in the development of society as a whole”, its effect on the middle class is now being researched. If the first study shows that the basic income has significant effects, further studies are to follow as part of the pilot project, including on the financial feasibility of a larger group of beneficiaries.