The 19th: “For eight years, researchers have been quietly putting together the largest, most comprehensive study on programs that give people a monthly stream of cash — no strings attached. Over time, does that income transform people’s lives?
The data is now in.
Put together by OpenResearch, the nonprofit lab founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the study followed 3,000 participants from 2020 to 2023, creating a sweeping portrait of the effects of guaranteed income programs. More than 150 such programs have been running since 2018, serving 50,000-plus recipients — often low-income women, parents and people of color….
The study split the participants into two groups: 1,000 people received $1,000 a month for three years and the rest received $50 a month to serve as a control group. (Researchers decided to pay the second group a nominal amount to help them stay engaged with the project.)
The groups, all made up of people ages 21 to 40, were drawn from rural, suburban and urban counties in Illinois and Texas with average annual household incomes of about $30,000, creating a representative sample of young low-income Americans. Each group was surveyed monthly and annually, and 155 people also underwent in-depth interviews once or twice a year. On average, 97 percent of participants completed the surveys.”