Germany: The basic income of € 1,200 was tested on one hundred people

Get 1,200 euros per month, unconditionally, for three years: 122 people, randomly selected from about two million volunteers, in Germany will benefit from this experience aimed at promoting Basic income. The payments are funded by donations from 181,000 contributors and the project, presented on Tuesday, will be scientifically evaluated as part of a long-term study.

“Over the next three years, we want to investigate empirically whether the unconditional and regular payment of an amount of money that covers more than the subsistence level affects people’s behavior and how it affects people’s behavior,” explained Jürgen Schöpp of the German Institute of Economics. Research (DIW), the scientific leader of the project.

This is the second initiative in this direction promoted by the Berlin private structure “Mein Grundeinkommen” (“My Basic Income”). The first smaller-scale trial took place over a year in 2017, during which 85 people received € 1,000 per month. Then the device targeted people with limited incomes.

Singles between the ages of 21 and 40 years

In this new venture, the lucky ones were chosen without the income criteria. No consideration required; It’s up to everyone to see if they pool those payments with the job. Beneficiaries are those who live alone and belong to the middle class, ranging in age from 21 to 40 years. “It is at this age group that major life decisions are made. We want to know whether and how unconditional basic income affects these decisions,” explained Michael Boomer, one of the initiators. Ideological convictions dominate the primary income debate. We want to know what it really is, ”he adds.

It is also a matter of studying whether the beneficiaries are using their new freedom for the benefit of society. The project is supported by scientists from the Max Planck Institute, the University of Cologne and the Cologne University of Technology, through psychological, behavioral and qualitative research. Basic income, sometimes called ‘comprehensive income’, has already been allocated. Experienced in other countries But it has often been restricted to socially disadvantaged people.