METHOD
How we verify
Strict UBI only when six criteria hold at once. Everything else is published as a related programme, pilot or proposal — never as a national basic income.
The six criteria
To call something a national universal basic income, all of this must hold at once:
UniversalWhole population, not a group
IndividualTo the person, not the household
UnconditionalNo means or work test
PeriodicRegular payment, not a one-off
CashCash, not in-kind
Lasting nationalCountry scale and duration
Taxonomy
- National UBI. All six flags at once. No country sits in that cell today.
- Pre-UBI. Resource dividends or guaranteed income that meet some of the flags (for example a resource dividend).
- Related programme. Minimum income, CCTs and similar. IMV, Bolsa Família or HSNP belong here, not as UBI experiments.
- Pilot or cash study. Limited sample, published dates and design. They are not a national UBI.
- Proposal. Text, campaign or initiative without a benefit in force.
Source classes
Official sourceGazette, statistical office, ministry
Institution or operatorInternational body or operator
Secondary sourceNot enough to claim a national UBI
Context sourceNot enough to claim a national UBI
Context sourceNot enough to claim a national UBI
How a change gets in
- A source is cited with URL, publisher and checked date.
- The instrument is classified (related, pilot, proposal, pre-UBI or UBI).
- A sensitive status change — especially a national UBI — needs matching official sources and the six flags. If there is a contradiction or the evidence is short, the status does not move.
Updates
Files carry the last checked date. The changes map lists only material events, not generic scans. Macros: World Bank, WDI 2023.
Limits
- We do not invent benefit amounts or initiative signatures.
- Calculators are scenarios. A minor counts as 0.5 of an adult when included.
- 195 files: absence of UBI is published too.