Key findings from applied basic income research

What does reliable money do to people? And what doesn’t it do? Germany’s basic income pilot offers answers that matter for entrepreneurship across society.

At the heart of our work at everypreneurs is the combination of money and trust for the development of entrepreneurs. That’s why findings from basic income research interest us: what happens when people receive money reliably, with no direct return, over a certain period?

The Pilotprojekt Grundeinkommen tested this in Germany. The analysis covers 107 people who received EUR 1,200 a month for three years with no conditions, and 1,580 people who did not.1

The study ran from 2021 to 2024. Mein Grundeinkommen e. V. funded and implemented it, and researchers from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the Vienna University of Economics and Business, the University of Oxford and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management carried it out. Steven Strehl was executive chair of the board of Mein Grundeinkommen during this time.

Alongside the Pilotprojekt Grundeinkommen, the association has collected anecdotal evidence since 2015 of what unconditional cash payments do for people. It is documented in countless winner portraits published by journalists.

What the study shows

People with security keep working

The share of people in work stayed the same. Working hours fell by 1.3 hours a week on average, a difference that is not statistically significant.2

A clearer head

Mental health, life satisfaction and sense of purpose rose clearly. 18 months after the last payment, 91% of the effect was still there.3

More self-determination

People felt more in control of their lives, and one in four said unprompted that they had more freedom of choice. According to the researchers, money works when it is regular, guaranteed, unconditional, individual and generous enough.3

Movement at work

People who feel secure change something about their work. 37% named work or education when describing what had changed.3 More people changed jobs, mostly with their existing employer.4

Money moves on

Recipients donated EUR 28 instead of EUR 12 a month and gave EUR 126 instead of EUR 50 to family and friends. Unconditional money doesn’t stop with one person.1

Savings build up

Recipients put aside EUR 779 a month, the comparison group EUR 332. At the end, 13% had less than EUR 10,000 in assets, against 27% in the comparison group.1

What the interviews show

These stories come from portraits of winners. They are individual cases, not measurements.

The worry about money goes away

Many describe the relief of no longer having the daily worry about money.5 A self-employed graphic designer never knows when the next job will come. With the basic income, it no longer gave her stomach aches.6

The courage to change

One woman left a large corporation without knowing what would come next and became a mental trainer.6 A parking enforcement officer enrolled in training as an administrative clerk, a job she can do until she retires.7

Self-employed with more calm

An interior designer finished her first project as a self-employed person without pressure.6 A craftswoman with her own business finally had time for creative work, took further training and calls the basic income an incredible engine.8

What money alone doesn’t do

There were no more self-employed people: the share was 7% in both groups. DIW found no sign that the money served as a catapult into self-employment.1

A similar study from the US shows the same pattern: with USD 1,000 a month, interest in starting a business and willingness to take risks grew, but the number of new businesses did not.9 Both studies hint that this could change over time.2,9

For us this means: money creates room, but it doesn’t start anything by itself. That’s why we combine it with knowledge, network and community.

The questions this raises

  • How much security does self-determination need?
  • Who decides how much a person needs?
  • What remains when the money ends?
  • How does the wish to start something become a business?

Money and trust

Steven StrehlFounder of everypreneurs

With my former board colleague Greta Stahr, I gave an insight into setting salaries by need instead of classic parameters, such as education and hierarchy level, and showed what we learned from it.

Das Bedarfsprinzip: Ein Gehaltsmodell, das zur Organisation passt (Neue Narrative, in German)

Sources

  1. 1Pilotprojekt Grundeinkommen: kein Rückzug vom Arbeitsmarkt, aber bessere mentale Gesundheit, DIW Wochenbericht 15/2025. Reference year 2025.
  2. 2Basic income and labor supply: Theory and evidence from an RCT in Germany, Bernhard, Bohmann, Fiedler, Kasy, Schupp, Schwerter. Reference year 2026.
  3. 3Cash Transfers, Mental Health, and Agency: Evidence from an RCT in Germany, Bohmann, Fiedler, Kasy, Schupp, Schwerter. Reference year 2026.
  4. 4Arbeit, Pilotprojekt Grundeinkommen. Reference year 2026.
  5. 5Was würdest du tun? 24 Menschen erzählen, was ein Jahr bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen für sie verändert hat, Ralf Julke, Leipziger Zeitung. Reference year 2019.
  6. 6Das Glücksspiel: Wie ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen das Leben verändert, Marie Rövekamp, Tagesspiegel. Reference year 2017.
  7. 7Grundeinkommen für Yvonne: 1000 Euro und der Traum vom besseren Leben, Monika Ahrens, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Reference year 2021.
  8. 8Handwerkerin: „Grundeinkommen ist ein wahnsinniger Motor“, Eileen Wesolowski, Deutsche Handwerks Zeitung. Reference year 2021.
  9. 9The Employment Effects of a Guaranteed Income: Experimental Evidence from Two U.S. States, Vivalt, Rhodes, Bartik, Broockman, Krause, Miller, NBER Working Paper 32719. Reference year 2026.

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