Assessing the prospective impacts of Universal Basic Income on anxiety and depression among 14-24-year-olds

In a context of austerity, pandemic and unemployment, 14- to 24-year-olds have above-average levels of anxiety, significant rates of depression and lower life satisfaction than previous cohorts.

Building on our model of upstream socioeconomic pathways for health impact, this project examines prospective impact of Universal Basic Income, a system of unconditional cash transfers, on anxiety and depression among 14-24s.

It brings together an established, multi-disciplinary team to: Objective 1) create a ‘risk’ factor for anxiety and depression among 14-24s from existing data O2) deploy the RSA’s Citizen Engagement Workshops and focus groups with disabled people to advance designs for a ‘transitional UBI’ for 14-17s, an overall scheme aimed specifically at mental health impact, and account for additional needs O3) use the ‘risk’ factor to model the impact of the cash transfer schemes from 2) on anxiety and depression among 14-24s O4) design research protocols to measure impacts in different schemes using the examples of ActEarly’s Bradford pilot and the RSA/Scottish Government’s prospective Dunfermline trial This will lead to a series of publications, an end of project report published by the RSA and a set of impact measurement research materials.

We will seek to ‘leverage’ these to secure further funded research.