1,000 people, $1,000 a month, three years. The results are uncomfortable for everyone.

The ultimate irony. Sam Altman, the man building the machine that takes the jobs, funded the largest test of life after jobs.

1,000 people got $1k per month for 3 years. 2,000 got $50. Texas and Illinois.

Real. Started 2020, ran three years, results published July 2024. OpenResearch, funded by Altman, with academics from Michigan, Berkeley, Toronto and Illinois running it.

For every $1 received, their other earnings fell by at least 12 cents, and total household income by at least 21 cents. So a fifth of the gift evaporated on arrival.

Work dropped about 1.3 hours a week, roughly eight fewer working days a year.
Spending rose $310 a month, mostly food, rent, transport. Not drugs, not alcohol.
Debt went up, net worth went down over three years.
No measurable improvement in physical health.
$36,000 handed over, and the needle barely moved.

What happened in plain terms: people used it for rent, food and transport. They worked a bit less, about an hour a week. They took more time choosing jobs instead of grabbing the first one. They went to the doctor more. They moved house more often. They gave more money to family and friends.

What did not happen: they did not get healthier, they did not get better jobs, they did not build savings. Debt went up and net worth went down. Nobody drank it away, which was the fear, and nobody escaped poverty either, which was the hope.

The honest summary is that $1,000 a month bought breathing room, not a way out.
Both camps claimed victory. 🏆