Could Universal Basic Income out-perform conventional Overseas Aid?

A village in Kenya is part of a trial with a universal basic income scheme in which all residents are given $20 a month for each of the next twelve years. How are people spending the money? What might it reveal about the economic lives of those in extreme poverty? Might a universal basic income offering direct cash transfers provide a more effective way of lifting people out of poverty than conventional forms of aid? This BBC video report provides some insights.

Background

This is a randomised controlled trial organised by the US charity GiveDirectly.

All residents of about 120 rural Kenyan villages, comprising more than 16,000 people in total, will receive some type of unconditional cash transfers during the experiment; some of these villages, moreover, will receive the universal basic income for twelve years. 

More here from Business Insider(article published in January 2018)

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