UBI Programs

Guatemala

Mi Familia Progresa (MIFAPRO) was Guatemala's flagship national conditional cash transfer program, launched in April 2008 by President Álvaro Colom to fight extreme poverty and chronic child malnutrition. It paid mothers in extremely poor families a bimonthly cash bonus conditioned on children's school attendance and family participation in health and nutrition checkups. The program was funded by the Government of Guatemala with technical and financial support from the World Bank (a US$122 million loan) and the Inter-American Development Bank. It scaled from an initial 130 municipalities to 302 of Guatemala's 333 municipalities before being phased out in 2011-2012 amid allegations of political clientelism, and was succeeded by the "Mi Bono Seguro" and later "Bono Social" programs.

Canada

Mincome, formally the Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment (MBAIE), was a negative income tax / guaranteed annual income field experiment jointly funded by the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba from 1974 to 1979. It combined a randomized controlled trial of low-income households in Winnipeg and dispersed rural Manitoba communities with a 'saturation site' in the town of Dauphin, where nearly all low-income residents were eligible to enroll. Guarantee levels for a family of four ranged from $3,800 to $5,800 CAD per year depending on the assigned plan, reduced by 35 to 75 cents for every dollar of earned income. The project was cancelled in 1979 for cost reasons before any official final report was produced, but later analysis (notably by economist Evelyn Forget) found reduced hospitalizations, fewer mental-health-related consultations, and higher high-school completion rates in Dauphin, alongside only modest reductions in labour supply overall.

United States

The Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot was a two-year program run by the City of Minneapolis that gave $500 per month to 200 low-income households in nine Minneapolis ZIP codes from June 2022 to June 2024. The pilot was funded with roughly $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) relief funds, and Minneapolis's mayor is a member of the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) network. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis independently designed and conducted a randomized controlled trial evaluation, comparing the 200 payment recipients to a control group drawn from an applicant pool of 530 households. Results through 24 months showed improvements in food security, financial security, well-being, and psychological wellness, with no detected reduction in labor supply.

United States

A "cash-plus-connection" pilot from Miracle Messages pairing $750/month unconditional cash with a volunteer phone-buddy program for people experiencing homelessness. Unique for its rigorous RCT design: eligibility isn't applied for directly — participants only learn they might receive cash after being randomized into that study arm and actively engaging their phone buddy, isolating the effect of income from the effect of simply expecting it. Run with USC's Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, it's one of few basic income pilots built specifically for unhoused individuals.

United States

Miracle Money was a proof-of-concept guaranteed income pilot run by Miracle Messages, a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit best known for reconnecting unhoused people with lost family and for its Miracle Friends phone-buddy program. From December 2020 to May 2021, 14 unhoused participants of the Miracle Friends program received $500 a month in direct cash transfers for six months, paired with continued phone-buddy social support. It was funded entirely through individual donors and online crowdfunding (roughly $50,000 raised via GoFundMe/social media). The pilot was one of the earliest guaranteed income programs in the US designed specifically for people experiencing homelessness and led to a much larger, philanthropically- and Google.org-funded follow-on RCT called "Miracle Money: California."

United States

MoCo BOOST (Building Our Opportunity and Strength Today) was a two-year guaranteed income pilot administered by Montgomery County's Department of Health and Human Services (Maryland), providing $800 per month for 24 months to 300 low-income households enrolled between April and October 2022. Participants were split into a 200-household 'main cohort' of families with at least one child under 18, and a 100-person cohort drawn from Services to End and Prevent Homelessness (SEPH) clients who had recently exited a county shelter. The pilot was funded through a public-private partnership between Montgomery County government and private philanthropic support from the Meyer Foundation and the Greater Washington Community Foundation, with UpTogether administering cash disbursement and the Montgomery County Collaboration Council serving as community partner. It was evaluated by the Urban Institute, which published an 18-month interim outcomes report (September 2024) and a final evaluation (June 2025); Morgan State University was also separately contracted in 2022 for a portion of the evaluation. The pilot concluded by late 2024/early 2025 with no confirmed continuation funding.

United States

Mothers Rising for Guaranteed Basic Income is a guaranteed income pilot run by Rising Communities (formerly Community Health Councils) that gives 100 low-income mothers in South LA's Best Start Region 2 $500/month for at least two years, no strings attached. Targets pregnant women and mothers of young children historically excluded from wealth-building, per Rising Communities' 2020 'Price of Motherhood' study with UCLA. Funded in part by First 5 LA through participatory grantmaking, with cash transfers administered by the Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI). Optional financial literacy workshops, career support, diaper distributions, community navigators, and research component available.

United States

MotherUp is a guaranteed income research pilot operated by Mother's Outreach Network (MON), a Washington DC nonprofit advocacy organization, in partnership with the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School. First-phase recruitment began in December 2022 and payments started in May 2023, providing $500/month in unconditional cash assistance to Black mothers in DC whose children were removed by or are involved with the DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). The privately/philanthropically funded pilot is structured as a multi-phase randomized controlled trial studying how guaranteed income affects family stability and child welfare involvement. Phase III launched applications in December 2025 and is recruiting on a rolling basis, offering up to $500/month for 36 months to selected participants.

United States

Moving Up Together Kent County Community Fund is a guaranteed income initiative run by the national nonprofit UpTogether, providing unrestricted monthly cash investments to households in Kent County, Michigan. It launched in 2023 and used UpTogether's member-network model, in which existing members could select additional households in their community to also receive funds. Participants received $500 per month for 18 months (about $9,000 total) with no restrictions on use. The fund was supported by private/philanthropic contributions to UpTogether.

United States

The Multnomah Mothers' Trust is a guaranteed income and participatory research pilot directed by the Multnomah Idea Lab within Multnomah County's Department of County Human Services, funded by roughly $2.9 million in federal ARPA relief dollars. It provides unconditional monthly cash payments to about 100 Black mothers referred by community partners Black Parent Initiative and WomenFirst Transition and Referral. UpTogether serves as the program's distribution and technology partner, delivering the cash to members' accounts. Payments began at $500/month in May 2022, a $3,000 bonus was paid at the end of 2022, and the monthly amount rose to $750 in 2023, continuing through the program's close around June/July 2024. Members also helped design a companion homeownership initiative, Finna Act Black (FAB).

Burkina Faso

The Nahouri Cash Transfers Pilot Project (NCTPP) was a two-year (2008-2010) randomized cash transfer experiment run in 75 villages of Nahouri province, rural Burkina Faso, comparing conditional and unconditional cash transfers paid quarterly to either the mother or father in poor households. It was designed and evaluated by World Bank, University of Illinois, and Oklahoma State University researchers in partnership with Burkina Faso's government, and funded through World Bank trust funds and the NBER Africa Project. The pilot tested effects on child school enrollment/attendance and preventive health clinic visits for children under seven. It has since concluded and was not continued as an ongoing program.

Guyana

Guyana's Ministry of Finance distributes a one-off G$100,000 (about US$480) cash grant to every Guyanese citizen aged 18 and older, funded directly by the country's oil revenue via the Natural Resource Fund. First announced in October 2024 (initially structured as a G$200,000 per-household grant before being converted to a per-adult grant to avoid excluding young people and multi-family households), a second nationwide round of the same G$100,000 grant began in March 2026. Recipients register in person or through an online portal, verify identity with a national ID, digital ID, or passport, and receive funds via bank transfer, cheque, or cash. The program is entirely government-funded with no application fee, means test, or income requirement.

Iran

Iran's Targeted Subsidies Reform, launched in December 2010, replaced government subsidies on fuel, electricity, bread and other staples with a nationwide cash transfer deposited into every citizen's bank account, making Iran the first country to implement a near-universal, national-scale unconditional cash program. Originally worth roughly $40-45 per person per month, the payment's real value has collapsed due to sustained currency devaluation, sanctions and inflation, falling to only a few dollars per month by the mid-2020s. Since 2021-2022 the program has shifted from a universal payment to a means-tested one that excludes higher-income deciles. In January 2026, amid a rial collapse and nationwide protests, the government layered on (or restructured into) a new restricted-use electronic food credit worth about $5-7 per person per month, non-cash and goods-only, extended to roughly 92% of the population. The program remains active but is heavily modified from its original universal, cash-in-hand design.

Samoa

As part of the second phase of its COVID-19 stimulus package, the Government of Samoa (via the Samoa Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Finance) paid every citizen who registered for the new National ID / digital identification system a one-time WST $50 tala cash payment. Registration was merged with household listing and mapping ahead of the 2021 Census and ran across Upolu and Savaii from roughly August to November 2020. The payment was funded entirely by the Government of Samoa's stimulus package and doubled as both a COVID-era relief measure and an incentive to drive uptake of the national digital ID rollout.

United States

Neighborhood is a faith-founded career and community development nonprofit in Chesapeake, VA that runs a tuition-free, 6-month 'earn while you learn' job training program. Participants (ages 18-55 with a high school diploma/GED) complete a leadership lab and an industry certification/apprenticeship track while receiving a performance-based stipend paid every two weeks. The program is aimed at low-income Hampton Roads residents seeking to move into living-wage skilled careers (maritime/industrial trades, welding, ship repair).

United States

The Bridge Project is a national nonprofit that provides unconditional cash assistance to low-income pregnant individuals and new mothers to combat childhood poverty. In October 2025 the organization expanded to New Jersey, backed by a $2 million investment from RWJBarnabas Health plus $6 million in local philanthropic funding coordinated through the Community Foundation of New Jersey, with administrative costs covered by the Monarch Foundation. The New Jersey cohort provides 250 pregnant individuals in Newark, Trenton, Paterson, and Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland counties with a prenatal stipend followed by monthly payments over three years. Funding blends a hospital-system investment (partly supported by state appropriation funding) with private philanthropy. No Social Security number or ITIN is required to apply.

United States

The New Orleans Guaranteed Income Program was a guaranteed income pilot launched in April 2022 by Mayor LaToya Cantrell and administered by the City's Office of Youth and Families. It provided $350 monthly, no-strings-attached cash payments for 10 months to 125 "opportunity youth" ages 16-24 in Orleans Parish who were disconnected from work and school. Participants were referred through nine community-based organizations and received funds via a MoCaFi prepaid debit card. The pilot was affiliated with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) and evaluated by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR).

United States

The Newark Movement for Economic Equity (NMEE) was a two-year guaranteed income pilot launched by the City of Newark in October 2021, providing 400 low-income residents with $6,000 per year. The program was funded by private philanthropic sources including the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, MCJ Amelior Foundation, Prudential Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Stadler Family Charitable Foundation, and Victoria Foundation. It was evaluated as a randomized controlled trial by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR), with a 478-person control group. Disbursements were delivered via prepaid debit cards administered by MoCaFi, a Black-owned fintech partner. The pilot concluded in September 2023 and results have since been folded into the New Jersey Movement for Economic Equity (NJMEE) coalition's advocacy work.

United States

The NM Immigrant GBI Project, New Mexico's first statewide guaranteed basic income pilot, was designed and implemented starting in early 2022 by the New Mexico Economic Relief Working Group (ERWG) -- a coalition including Somos Un Pueblo Unido, EL CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos, NM Voices for Children, NM CAFé, and Partnership for Community Action -- together with national nonprofit UpTogether. It provided 330 undocumented or mixed-immigration-status families across 13 New Mexico counties with $500 per month for 12 months, with 50 randomly selected households receiving an additional 6 months of payments. The pilot was funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and UpTogether, distributing roughly $2 million in unconditional cash assistance. NM Voices for Children led the research evaluation, publishing results in a December 2023 report showing improved employment, housing stability, and children's educational outcomes.

Togo

Novissi (meaning "solidarity" in Éwé) is Togo's fully digital unconditional cash transfer program, launched in April 2020 by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Digital Transformation to support informal-sector workers whose incomes were disrupted by COVID-19 lockdowns. Recipients registered via a USSD short code (*855#) using their national voter ID card and received payments directly to a mobile money account, with women receiving a higher monthly amount than men to help offset gender inequality. The program was funded by Togo's National Solidarity and Economic Recovery Fund, a grant from the French Development Agency, and a partnership with the U.S. nonprofit GiveDirectly, which financed a rural expansion that used AI and satellite-based poverty targeting. By March 2021, Novissi had disbursed roughly US$24 million to more than 800,000 beneficiaries, making it one of the first large-scale, fully contactless digital cash transfer programs in the world.

Taiwan (Republic of China)

In 2023 Taiwan's central government distributed a one-time, universal cash payment of NT$6,000 to every household-registered citizen, eligible permanent residents, and qualifying foreign spouses, funded entirely from a NT$450 billion tax revenue surplus (NT$140 billion of which was earmarked for the payout). It was administered jointly by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Digital Affairs, and Executive Yuan via the 6000.gov.tw platform, with no income, age, or need-based eligibility criteria. Recipients could claim funds through online bank registration, ATM withdrawal, post office pickup, or automatic direct deposit if already receiving government pensions or benefits. It followed similar past one-time nationwide payouts: the 2009 NT$3,600 Consumer Voucher (issued as physical shopping vouchers to counter the Great Recession) and the 2020 Triple Stimulus Voucher (NT$1,000 paid by citizens redeemable for NT$3,000 in vouchers, to offset COVID-19 economic impact).

United States

Oakland Resilient Families was a guaranteed income pilot launched in July 2021 by then-Mayor Libby Schaaf in partnership with UpTogether (formerly Family Independence Initiative) and Oakland Thrives, providing $500 per month for 18 months to 600 randomly selected low-income Oakland families with at least one child under 18. The program explicitly targeted racial wealth disparities, initially stating eligibility was limited to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families before revising its public messaging in 2021 to say it was open to all income-qualifying residents, while selection remained weighted toward communities with the greatest disparities per Oakland's Equity Index. It was funded entirely through private philanthropy, chiefly Blue Meridian Partners, with no taxpayer dollars involved. The pilot was evaluated by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) using a randomized controlled trial, finding improvements in employment, housing stability, mental well-being, and children's school performance. The program concluded in 2023.

United States

Ohio Mothers Trust is a guaranteed income pilot that provides 32 single mothers in Franklin County (Columbus), Ohio with $500 unconditional monthly cash payments for 12 months, beginning in December 2024. It is a three-way partnership between Motherful, a Columbus-based collective of single mothers; RISE Together Innovation Institute, a Franklin County anti-poverty organization; and UpTogether, a national direct-cash nonprofit. RISE Together and UpTogether jointly fund the $211,200 initiative, while Motherful identified and selected the eligible participants. UpTogether and researchers from The Ohio State University are conducting the accompanying research to evaluate the program's impact. No government/public funding source was identified in available reporting.

United States

The Bridge Project is a national nonprofit that provides unconditional cash stipends to low-income pregnant women and new mothers. Its Omaha chapter, launched November 2025 in partnership with The Sherwood Foundation, will support 350 eligible pregnant women in Douglas County. Participants receive a one-time prenatal stipend followed by tapering monthly payments through their child's third year. The program is unconditional, with no restrictions on how funds may be spent.

Russia

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's Pension Fund (Пенсионный фонд России, now merged into the Social Fund of Russia) administered a series of universal, non-means-tested cash payments to virtually every family with children under two presidential decrees. Decree No. 317 (May 11, 2020) provided a one-time payment of 10,000 rubles per child aged 3-16, disbursed from June 1, 2020; Decree No. 412 (June 23, 2020) added a further one-time 10,000 rubles per child from birth to age 16, disbursed from July 2020, regardless of household income or employment status. Together these one-time payments reached roughly 27-28 million Russian children and were funded entirely by the federal government. Applications were free and processed through the Gosuslugi public-services portal or the Pension Fund, with no documentation beyond confirming the child's Russian citizenship required.