Basic Income and social cohesion: Exploring the effects of a BI pilot in informal settlements in Hyderabad

Diana Bashur; Vibhor Mathur

doi:10.1016/j.wdp.2026.100764

Basic Income and social cohesion: Exploring the effects of a BI pilot in informal settlements in Hyderabad

Diana Bashur, Vibhor Mathur

Department of Social & Policy Sciences

University of Vienna

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

While Basic Income (BI) experiments have expanded globally, most evidence has focused on wellbeing, health, labour, and other individual-level indicators. Community-wide effects, such as social cohesion, remain relatively underexplored. This paper draws on mixed-methods research on a community-wide BI pilot implemented in informal settlements in Hyderabad. The pilot consisted of a cash payment and a ‘Plus’ in the form of relational support. We find significant positive effects on various social cohesion indicators, with participants reporting boosts in dignity, inclusive decision-making, trust, solidarity, cooperation and mutual support linked to the intervention. Our findings confirm the BI and wider cash transfer literature on the potential of unconditional and universal cash as a tool for strengthening social cohesion.

Original language	English
Article number	100764
Journal	World Development Perspectives
Volume	41
Early online date	26 Jan 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2026.100764
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 26 Jan 2026

Data Availability Statement

The quantitative data analysed can be found in Appendix A. The qualitative data can be made available upon request.

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Sarath Davala (Research Director) and Santosh Malviya (Data scientist) for their support and insight on the quantitative data and continuous availability for discussing findings with the authors. We also thank Barbara Prainsack, Lukas Schlögl, Neil Howard and Joe Devine for comments and insights on early drafts of this paper. Gratitude is also due to all the participants who gave their time, insights and knowledge into the construction of this paper.

Funding

The authors are indebted to Sarath Davala (Research Director) and Santosh Malviya (Data scientist) for their support and insight on the quantitative data and continuous availability for discussing findings with the authors. We also thank Barbara Prainsack, Lukas Schlögl, Neil Howard and Joe Devine for comments and insights on early drafts of this paper. Gratitude is also due to all the participants who gave their time, insights and knowledge into the construction of this paper. Ethics approval was received for the data collection of this study from the University of Bath Social Science Research Ethics Committee (Number S21-003). The wider WorkFREE project received approval from the European Research Council (grant agreement no. 805425) from the IFMR Institutional Review Board in India (IRB00007107).

Funders	Funder number
Sarath Davala
European Research Council	805425, IRB00007107

Keywords

Cash transfers
India
Informal settlements
Social cohesion
Universal basic income

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Development
Sociology and Political Science
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1016/j.wdp.2026.100764Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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Basic Income and social cohesion: Exploring the effects of a BI pilot in informal settlements in Hyderabad

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Acknowledgements

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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