UBI Programs

Kenya

GiveDirectly, a US-based nonprofit, runs the world's largest and longest-running universal basic income study in rural Kenya, launched in 2017-2018. Roughly 23,000 adults across 195 villages in Siaya and Bomet Counties receive unconditional cash via mobile money (M-PESA), split across a 12-year monthly UBI arm, a 2-year monthly UBI arm, and a one-time lump-sum arm, compared against 100 control villages. The $30M initiative is funded by philanthropic donors and independently researched by economists from MIT, UCSD, and Princeton with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). Early 2023 results found long-term UBI encouraged saving and investment while lump sums drove more business creation, with no evidence of reduced work effort in any arm.

United States

The 40x40 Community Fund: Family First Guaranteed Basic Income is a guaranteed income pilot for families with young children in East Oakland, run jointly by UpTogether and Roots Community Health Center as part of the Rise East initiative and with support from Oakland Thrives. Families are placed on one of two payment tracks: higher-need households receive $1,000/month for 12 months then $500/month for 6 months, while other participating families receive a flat $500/month for 18 months. The program serves roughly 140 families and is funded through private philanthropic support. It builds on the earlier Oakland Resilient Families pilot (2021-2023), a 600-household program run by UpTogether, Oakland Thrives, and the City of Oakland.

United States

The first pregnancy income supplement program piloted in the US to Black and Pacific Islander individuals throughout pregnancy and postpartum and tests direct cash as a reproductive health intervention. Created by Expecting Justice with UCSF's Preterm Birth Initiative under a "collaborative change model" that puts affected communities in the design process, it's since expanded from San Francisco into Alameda, Contra Costa, LA, and Riverside counties with public and philanthropic funding (including Jack Dorsey's #startsmall).

United States

The Advancing Fresno County Guaranteed Income (AFCGI) program, administered by the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (Fresno EOC) in partnership with the Center for Community Voices at Fresno State, provided $500 per month for 12 months to 150 low-income families with young children in two of Fresno County's highest-poverty zip codes: Southwest Fresno (93706) and rural Huron (93234), the latter home to a large immigrant farmworker community. The program was funded entirely by philanthropic foundations, including The California Wellness Foundation, The California Endowment, and the James Irvine Foundation, and delivered unconditional cash via a reloadable prepaid debit card. Immigration status had no bearing on eligibility, and undocumented residents were explicitly welcomed to apply. The pilot ran from July 2024 through June 2025 and was evaluated through a randomized controlled trial comparing 150 recipients to 150 control households.

United States

Affording Survival is a guaranteed income pilot launched in July 2024 by The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, a Chicago-based coalition of member agencies serving domestic violence (DV) survivors across Illinois. Cohort 1 provided 76 DV survivors who are parents/caregivers of minor children, and who were housed in a partner agency's DV rapid rehousing/transitional housing program, with $1,000/month for 12 months plus access to an additional $2,000 flexible fund. The pilot pairs cash with housing stability support and optional financial coaching. It is privately funded and is being evaluated by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR).

United States

Affording Survival Cohort 2 is a guaranteed income pilot for survivors of domestic violence, operated by The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, a Chicago-based nonprofit coalition serving Cook County, Illinois. It provides direct cash payments to survivors already enrolled in a partner agency's transitional housing program, building on Cohort 1 of the same initiative but with a new tapering payment structure and additional partner organizations, including Apna Ghar. Payments are privately/philanthropically funded and administered monthly through payment processor Usio, Inc. The Network's core mission is coordinating services for domestic violence survivors statewide, including operating the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline and a broader Survivor Fund direct-cash-assistance program. Program-specific public documentation for Cohort 2 is limited (the program's online application is password-protected), so several seed details could not be independently corroborated.

United States

Aging with Dignity is a guaranteed income pilot in Santa Clara County, California, created through a partnership between Destination: Home and Sacred Heart Community Service. It provides unconditional monthly cash payments to 50 low-income seniors who are at risk of homelessness and largely ineligible for other public safety-net programs. The pilot is one of roughly ten guaranteed income programs operating across Santa Clara County as part of a broader regional movement, funded by a coalition of private and philanthropic sources. Enrollment occurs through referrals from partner organizations rather than an open public application. As of mid-2026 the pilot appears to be active and mid-disbursement based on Destination: Home's current public program listings.

United States

Workers are being displaced by artificial intelligence. The existing safety net — unemployment insurance, job retraining programs, federal workforce initiatives — was not designed for technology-driven displacement at this speed and scale. There is no dedicated federal program for AI-displaced workers. The gap between job loss and meaningful support is growing every quarter. The AI Dividend exists to close that gap now, while simultaneously building the evidence base that policymakers and institutions will need to act at scale. This is not a study. It is a working program with real participants receiving real support — and a research component designed to turn what we learn into policy.

United States

New Mexico Appleseed, a Albuquerque/Santa Fe-based child poverty nonprofit, ran an early (2020-2021) cash-stipend pilot for students experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque Public Schools and Las Cruces Public Schools, paying $500 per month to students who maintained attendance, completed schoolwork, and attended tutoring. The pilot was part of Appleseed's broader 'Students Experiencing Homelessness' cash-transfer initiative launched with pandemic-era donor funds, which also included a separately-tracked year-long pilot in Cuba and West Las Vegas school districts. Results across the initiative (roughly 120 students combined) showed sharply improved graduation rates, leading Appleseed to advocate successfully for a 2025 statewide, state-funded expansion (the 'Guaranteed Payment for Attendance' program). Public reporting does not independently confirm the Western Sky Community Care partnership or the exact 65-participant figure cited in seed data for this specific district pairing.

United States

ARISE was the City of Alexandria's guaranteed income pilot study, providing $500 a month for 24 months to 170 randomly selected low-income residents with no restrictions on how the money could be spent. Funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, the program was designed as a randomized controlled trial run by the City's Department of Community and Human Services in partnership with ACT for Alexandria and research firm Abt Associates. The City hoped to learn how a regular cash disbursement can impact the economic stability and wellbeing of residents when they can decide for themselves how to spend it. Payments were distributed via a prepaid debit card issued by fintech partner MoCaFi, requiring no bank account. Disbursements ran from February 2023 through approximately January 2025, and a final evaluation report was released in 2026.

Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh's Widow, Deserted and Destitute Women Allowance is a nationwide, explicitly unconditional cash transfer that pays poor widowed, divorced/deserted, or otherwise destitute women a small monthly stipend for as long as they remain eligible, with no work, training, or spending conditions attached. Launched in FY1998 with about 0.4 million recipients receiving BDT 100/month, it has grown to roughly 2.9-3 million women receiving BDT 700/month (BDT 1,000/month for those over 90) as of FY2025-26/FY2026-27. It is funded entirely by the Government of Bangladesh through the Department of Social Services (with prior technical/financial support from a World Bank-financed Cash Transfer Modernization Project) and is administered locally by Union and Upazila social welfare committees, with funds disbursed through state-owned banks. The World Bank explicitly labels it "an unconditional cash transfer allowance program," distinguishing it from Bangladesh's conditional stipend and public-works safety nets.

Lebanon

Aman is Lebanon's national unconditional cash transfer program for extreme-poor households, run by the Ministry of Social Affairs and financed primarily by World Bank (IBRD/IDA) loans to the Government of Lebanon, with additional support from the European Union, Qatar Red Crescent and other donors. Launched in 2022 as the Emergency Social Safety Net Project (ESSN) in response to Lebanon's economic collapse, it merged in October 2024 with the older, donor-funded National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP) to become the country's unified safety net. Eligible households are identified through a proxy-means test on the digital DAEM social registry and receive monthly cash transfers via the World Food Programme and local money transfer operators/prepaid cards. As of 2025 it reached roughly 166,000 of the poorest Lebanese households (about 798,000 individuals).

United States

Arlington's Guarantee was an 18-month guaranteed income pilot (September 2021-December 2023) that provided $500 per month with no strings attached to 200 low-income households. Most recipients were working families with children enrolled in Arlington County's Housing Grants program making under 30% of area median income, with special carve-out samples of 25 people re-entering the community after incarceration and 25 undocumented heads of household. The program was privately funded (no public dollars), included optional 1:1 coaching, and protected participants' existing public benefits eligibility. It was led by Arlington Community Foundation in partnership with Arlington County Department of Human Services, with Urban Institute providing technical evaluation support.

United States

The Artist Grants Program (AGP) is a guaranteed-income pilot run by The Local Sound Collaborative, a Rochester, NY music nonprofit, to financially subsidize independent musicians and music workers. The pilot cohort (the first of the program) gave five local musicians unrestricted monthly payments of $200 for 12 months, funded through community donations, fundraisers, and local business contributions. The program is modeled on Universal Basic Income and has continued annually with growing cohorts (six recipients in 2024, eight in 2025-26).

Argentina

AUH is Argentina's flagship non-contributory child cash transfer, run by the national social security agency ANSES and funded by the national government. It pays a monthly stipend to unemployed, informally-employed, domestic-worker, or 'monotributista social' parents/guardians for each child under 18 (no age cap if the child has a disability), conditional on health checkups, vaccination, and school attendance. Created by decree in 2009, it has grown into one of the largest conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America, reaching roughly 4.1 million children as of late 2025.

Singapore

The Assurance Package (AP) is a Singapore government cash-transfer scheme that gives every adult Singapore citizen tiered annual cash payments from 2022 to 2026 to cushion the 2023-2024 GST rate increase (7% to 9%) and rising cost of living. It sits on top of the older, permanent GST Voucher (GSTV) scheme, which separately gives lower- and middle-income citizens cash, MediSave top-ups, and utility/S&CC rebates each year. Both schemes are funded entirely by the Singapore government out of budget surpluses and are administered by the Ministry of Finance via the govbenefits.gov.sg portal. Payout amounts are tiered by each citizen's Assessable Income and number of properties owned, with lower-income citizens receiving the most. Payments are automatic and require no application beyond registering a bank account or PayNow-NRIC link.

Sri Lanka

Aswesuma is Sri Lanka's national welfare benefit payment scheme, launched in 2023 by the government as the successor to the long-running Samurdhi programme. It provides monthly cash transfers to households classified as extremely poor or poor (a 'vulnerable' category was also included at launch but was phased out by June 2026), selected through a data-driven Proxy Means Testing system rather than local political discretion. The program is run by the Welfare Benefits Board under the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and is financed by the Government of Sri Lanka with major support from a World Bank-financed Social Safety Nets Project (US$200 million). Payments are made electronically into beneficiaries' bank accounts, reaching well over a million households nationwide.

United States

The Atlanta GBI is a guaranteed income pilot run by March of Dimes' Atlanta Collective Impact Initiative, providing a $1,000 monthly stipend to 25 Black pregnant women in Fulton County, Georgia to improve maternal health and preterm birth outcomes. Funded with evaluation support from The Liz Blake Giving Fund, the program distributes funds via GiveCard prepaid cards. It launched in June 2025 and ran through the pregnancy and postpartum period into May 2026. Community partners including the Center for Black Women's Wellness, 4Kira4Moms, Georgia Black Doula Network, and Helping Mamas support enrollment and wraparound services.

United States

The Austin Family Stabilization Grant Fund 2025 is a guaranteed income initiative run by the City of Austin's Equity and Inclusion Office with distribution partner UpTogether, providing $1,000 per month in unrestricted cash for 12 months to Travis County families facing economic hardship. It builds on the City's 2022-2023 Guaranteed Income Pilot (135 households) and the 2024-2025 Family Stabilization Grants Fund (160 households), both of which improved housing stability, employment, and food security for participants. Program materials describe this round as reaching 148 additional families, with payments beginning June 2025 and running through June 2026. However, the City's FY2025-2026 budget allocation for the Family Stabilization Grant ($1.3 million) was contingent on a November 2025 tax-rate election and was subsequently cut in an austerity budget, and by April 2026 UpTogether publicly stated it lacked funding to continue the program. Public reporting on a '148 families' cohort consistently describes families who began receiving payments in June 2024 under the prior 2024-2025 fund, raising the possibility this record describes that same cohort rather than a distinct new one.

United States

UpTogether partnered with the City of Austin Equity Office and St. David's Foundation, Google.org, and the Austin Community Foundation to provide $1,000 monthly unrestricted cash grants for 12 months to 160 Austin-area families facing economic hardship. Of the 160 families, 96 were funded by the City of Austin and 64 by philanthropic donors. Payments to this cohort began the week of June 3, 2024 and ran through approximately May 2025. Participants were enrolled through community partner organizations rather than a general public application, and priority was given to households with dependents.

United States

The Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot examined how direct, unrestricted cash could help low-income individuals and families weather unstable housing circumstances in some of Austin's highest-poverty and most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. Starting September 2022, UpTogether and 10 community-based partners, working with the City of Austin's Equity Office, enrolled 135 households to receive $1,000 per month for one year. It was the first city-funded guaranteed income pilot in Texas and was evaluated by the Urban Institute.

United States

The Austin Homeownership Fund is a direct cash investment program in which UpTogether, in partnership with Living Cities and the City of Austin, invested a total of roughly $7,600 per household over six months in 20 Austin-area families working toward or maintaining homeownership through the City of Austin Community Land Trust (ACLT). Funds were unrestricted cash with no repayment requirement, primarily supporting BIPOC individuals and families with costs like inspections, closing costs, insurance, utility setup, and initial homeownership expenses. The fund was made possible by a Living Cities "Closing the Gaps Network" grant (Wells Fargo Foundation and Citi Foundation) aimed at closing racial homeownership gaps.

Costa Rica

Avancemos is Costa Rica's national conditional cash transfer program, run by the Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social (IMAS) together with the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and the Ministry of Labor (MTSS), that pays monthly stipends to students from primary through secondary school in households classified as living in extreme or basic poverty. Payments are conditioned on staying enrolled and attending a MEP-recognized educational program, and are meant to prevent dropout and child labor. Created in 2006 and codified by Law No. 9617 (2018), it is funded by the Costa Rican government through the Fondo de Desarrollo Social y Asignaciones Familiares (FODESAF). It is one of the largest and longest-running CCT programs in Latin America, currently reaching several hundred thousand students annually.

United States

Baby's First Years is a multi-site randomized controlled trial testing whether unconditional monthly cash payments to low-income mothers causally affect infant brain development, cognition, and family well-being. It is run by a research consortium led by Columbia University together with NYU, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Duke University, and UC Irvine. About 1,000 mothers were recruited from postpartum hospital wards in New York City, New Orleans, Omaha, and the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) starting in May 2018 and randomly assigned to a $333/month or $20/month unconditional cash gift delivered via prepaid debit card. The study is funded primarily by private philanthropic foundations along with federal research grant support (including NICHD/NIH). Findings have been published in PNAS and other peer-reviewed journals and are among the most widely cited experimental evidence on cash transfers and child development.

United States

The Baltimore Young Families Success Fund (BYFSF) was a guaranteed income pilot launched by Mayor Brandon M. Scott, providing 200 young parents aged 18-24 with $1,000 unconditional monthly cash payments for 24 months (August 2022-July 2024). It was administered by the Mayor's Office of Children & Family Success in partnership with the CASH Campaign of Maryland, with technical assistance from Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) and fund distribution via the fintech Steady. The program was funded by $4.8 million in City American Rescue Plan Act funds plus philanthropic support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Abell Foundation, France-Merrick Foundation, and Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund. Abt Associates conducted a randomized controlled trial evaluation, with qualitative research led by the Center for Guaranteed Income Research and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.