The Mental Health Foundation, Scotland, 039714, Company Registration No. 2350846, United Kingdom.
Soc Sci Med. 2021 Oct;287:114374. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114374. Epub 2021 Sep 7.
Amongst its advocates, one of the key arguments for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is its potential to improve population mental health. However, while previous authors have variously examined the potential effects of UBI on income, employment and labour market demand, the direct mental health consequences of previous pilots have been less frequently examined. The purpose of this paper is therefore to conduct a review of the literature on UBI and to re-examine the existing research with a mental health focus.
Six electronic databases were used to conduct a review of the literature. We searched for empirical research studies of any design, conducted since the year 2000 in High Income Countries, exploring the effects of interventions similar to a UBI on the mental health of children or working-age adults. Grey literature and government reports were also included.
A total of 1566 articles were screened of which seven peer reviewed studies and eight governmental reports were ultimately selected for inclusion. None of the identified studies directly compared the impact of individual payments with those made on a household basis, or the effects of payments which were truly universal. However, several studies evaluated the mental health outcomes associated with payments provided unconditionally, and consistently reported clear and significant improvements in mental wellbeing. Potential mediating factors included improved time with family and friends, a reduction in perceived stigma and a renewed sense of hope for the future.
Our review has produced evidence to suggest that prophesies surrounding the mental health benefits of a UBI are at least partially justified. However, future studies should aim to be conducted at an area level, with an adequately powered sample size, and investigate interventions of a considerable duration using a longitudinal design.
在其拥护者中，普遍基本收入（UBI）的一个关键论点是它有可能改善人口的心理健康。然而，尽管之前的作者已经研究了 UBI 对收入、就业和劳动力市场需求的潜在影响，但之前的试点项目对直接心理健康的影响却很少被研究。因此，本文的目的是对 UBI 文献进行综述，并重新审视现有的以心理健康为重点的研究。
使用六个电子数据库对文献进行综述。我们搜索了自 2000 年以来在高收入国家进行的任何设计的实证研究，探讨了类似 UBI 的干预措施对儿童或工作年龄成年人心理健康的影响。灰色文献和政府报告也包括在内。
共筛选出 1566 篇文章，最终选择了 7 篇同行评议研究和 8 篇政府报告进行纳入。没有一项确定的研究直接比较了个人支付与家庭支付的影响，也没有研究真正普遍的支付的影响。然而，一些研究评估了无条件支付与心理健康结果之间的关系，并一致报告了心理健康状况的明显改善。潜在的中介因素包括与家人和朋友共度的时间增加、感知耻辱感减少以及对未来的新希望。
我们的综述提供了证据，表明普遍基本收入对心理健康的好处的预言至少有部分是合理的。然而，未来的研究应在区域层面进行，样本量充足，使用纵向设计调查相当长时间的干预措施。
