The Basic Income Lab convenes stakeholders around the politics, philosophy, economics and implementation of basic income and related cash policies.
Our Story and Mission
Established in 2017 as an initiative of the Stanford McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, the Stanford Basic Income Lab produces research and convenes stakeholders around the politics, economics, philosophy and implementation of basic income and related cash policies. Under the leadership of Assistant Professor Juliana Bidadanure and the support of Joan Berry, Executive Director of the McCoy Family Center of Ethics in Society, the Basic Income Lab launched with seed funding from the Economic Security Project and the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society.
The Basic Income Lab (BIL):
Convenes stakeholders around the politics, philosophy, economics and implementation of basic income and related cash policies.
Harvests learning from policymakers and practitioners implementing basic income pilots.
Equips the field with insights on the growth and evolution of basic income experiments, pilots and demonstrations.
Why Basic Income?
As automation, growing inequality, persistent poverty, and structural unemployment threaten economic security in the United States and around the world, many have begun to consider the role universal basic income (UBI) could play in addressing these challenges. Within this context, there is a growing need to understand UBI’s potential impacts and how it might be economically and politically feasible.Why Here?
The last decade has seen growing interest in and calls for UBI. In 2016, Robert B. Reich, Andrew Stern and Martin Ford all wrote books proposing UBI as a necessary tool in an increasingly unequal and automated society. The last decade has seen increasing calls for UBI and other bold ideas. Stanford University brings path-breaking, cross-disciplinary research to the question of UBI.The time is ripe for an independent initiative that serves to:
Convene scholars, policy makers, business leaders, think tanks, nonprofits, and foundations around the politics and economics of UBI
Inform those developing UBI policies and carrying out experiments
Aggregate and disseminate research findings
Stimulate research on UBI
Sponsors
The Basic Income Lab has received support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Jain Family Institute, the Economic Security Project, and the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society.
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