cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/economy/p/1372578/1000-month-for-3-years-study-finds-universal-basic-income-reduces-work-hours-but-doesn-t
We study the causal impacts of income on a rich array of employment outcomes, leveraging an experiment in which 1,000 low-income individuals were randomized into receiving $1,000 per month unconditionally for three years, with a control group of 2,000 participants receiving $50/month. We gather detailed survey data, administrative records, and data from a mobile phone app.
The transfer caused total individual income excluding the transfers to fall by about $1,900/year relative to the control group and a 4.2 percentage point decrease in labor market participation. Participants reduced their work hours as a result of the transfers by 1-2 hours/week and participants’ partners reduced their work hours by a comparable amount. Among other categories of time use, the greatest increase generated by the transfer was in time spent on leisure. Despite asking detailed questions about amenities, we find no impact on quality of employment, and our confidence intervals can rule out even small improvements.
Treated participants broadly increase expenditures, led by spending on non-durable goods and services, with smaller increases in spending on durable goods and human capital. We observe no significant effects on degree attainment, though the magnitudes of the estimated effects generally appear larger among younger participants.
Measures of subjective well-being are higher among treated participants in the first year of the transfers but then revert to control group levels.
Overall, our results suggest a moderate labor supply effect that does not appear offset by other productive activities.
Yep
This looks to me like a reflection of a couple of things:
Employment quality is beyond control of participants. Dispelling the notion that working harder or less harder gets you better or worse jobs.
Short term well being is tied to short term good, with a minor trickle into long term goods. ( Like you may get most of your extra money into higher quality juice/butter/bread and in the case that your refrigerator breaks you are more likely to afford a new one).
Wellbeing increases for one year and then goes back to where it was: there’s research on people impacted by major life changing events such as becoming wheel chair bound. Its findings is that people happiness dips temporarily then returns to their previous baseline. This research seems to confirm that happiness/wellbeing is a personal trait that can’t be changed long term.