ITSA Newsletter: August 2025

The Latest and Biggest Basic Income News:

‣ First experiment in 50 years to test cash versus housing vouchers releases results

‣ Mexico did a universal income for seniors and dropped poverty by 26%

‣ Massive unconditional cash experiment in Kenya cut child mortality in half

‣ Ireland launches public consultation on the future of Basic Income for the Arts

‣ Malaysia does a one-off universal payment to boost their economy

‣ Germany’s basic income experiment resulted in significantly better mental health

‣ Climate Emergency Basic Income Act introduced in Pennsylvania

ITSA Foundation News Update:

We’re excited to announce that we are now fundraising for the 100+ public screening events being planned for the Bootstraps docuseries all across the country next year. Please help us make this historic - tens years in the making - tour happen by donating to the impact campaign, and by encouraging others to donate too.

Consider also following the brand new social media accounts for Bootstraps as they start to build an online presence to foster conversation around the more human aspects of UBI (@bootstrapsTV everywhere, except Instagram where it's @bootstraps_TV)

We’re also looking to make an appearance at SXSW next year in Austin to do a panel about Comingle, which by then, should hopefully have thousands of members. If you’d like to help make that happen, please use the SXSW panel picker here to vote for it before Sunday, August 24. Just click the heart to vote.

First experiment in 50 years to test cash versus housing vouchers releases results [link]

• Philadelphia launched an experiment in the Fall of 2022 to test housing vouchers against monthly cash of equivalent size against a control group.

• The median cash payment was $881 per month and at 18 months it had reduced homelessness by 67% compared to a 19% drop for the vouchers.

• Cash recipients got helped faster (21 days versus 110 days for vouchers) and 100% of the cash group got help compared to 75% of the voucher group.

• At 12 months, forced moves compared to controls were down 63% for the cash group and a non-significant 17% for the voucher group.

Mexico did a universal income for seniors and dropped poverty by 26% [link]

• Since 2018, a cash payment of 6,200 pesos has been distributed every two months to everyone in Mexico over the age of 65. Rich or poor, working or not.

• 13.4 million people are now no longer in poverty, a dramatic reduction of 26%.

• Key quote: “The big problem [with the cash transfers] is not that they’re universal. The big problem is that the Mexican government has not made an effort to make it truly universal – that is, to make it reach everyone.”

Massive unconditional cash experiment in Kenya cut child mortality in half [link]

• In 2014, the nonprofit GiveDirectly began a massive experiment. Over the next three years, they gave $1,000 to over 10,000 low-income households across 653 villages in Kenya.

• Data was collected on over 100,000 births in the study area to function as a huge control group.

• The cash led to a 48% drop in infant mortality, from roughly 40 deaths per 1,000 births to about 21 deaths. Deaths of children under five were also 45% lower in households who got cash, dropping to 32 per 100,000 births from 57.

Ireland launches public consultation on the future of Basic Income for the Arts [link]

• Basic Income for the Arts is a pilot research program which has been running since August 2022 in which 2,000 artists are getting €325 per week in order to support their creative practice.

• The pilot has already been extended by 6 months due to its success. Data shows that the income is having a consistent, positive impact across almost all indicators - affecting practice development, sectoral retention, well-being, and deprivation.

• As the pilot comes to an end in February 2026, the public is now being invited by the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to share their views on the future of the program.

Malaysia does a one-off universal payment to boost their economy [link]

• A fully universal payment of RM100 is going to every adult citizen in Malaysia, potentially opening the door to UBI there.

• The payment is being distributed onto MyKad cards that are somewhat similar to EBT cards in that they can only be used in certain stores on certain things.

• Funding for the payment is from reductions of existing subsidies.

• Key quote: “The most important thing is to learn lessons about the impact so that Malaysia can move to a regular monthly payment.”

Germany’s basic income experiment resulted in significantly better mental health [link]

• A rigorous RCT study in Germany found that a basic income of €1,200 a month for 3 years significantly and durably improved recipients' mental health and overall well-being.

• It suggests these benefits stem from the money empowering recipients to experience greater agency and implement meaningful life changes that included increased financial security, higher savings, more time spent with friends, better sleep, and greater prosocial giving.

• The German researchers suggest that they found significant mental health improvements where Sam Altman’s experiment didn’t because the amount was large enough, being equivalent in spending power to about $1400-1700/mo USD.

• Another important detail of this study is that every recipient was a childless adult between the ages of 21 and 40. A $1400 payment is more impactful in a one-person household than the same amount in a four-person HH.

Climate Emergency Basic Income Act introduced in Pennsylvania [link]

• Representative Ben Waxman in Pennsylvania has introduced what he has titled the Climate Emergency Basic Income Act to provide direct cash to those who suffer catastrophic personal loss or injury during climate-related disasters.

• Eligible individuals would receive $1,000/mo for up to 6 months following a state-declared disaster. An additional $500/mo would be provided per dependent.

• Individuals will need to experience either catastrophic property loss (including the loss of tents, vehicles, documents, or essential belongings) or a serious injury resulting from a disaster to get the income.

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Scott Santens

Founder & CEO, ITSA Foundation