Maricá Basic Income Evaluation

Image credit: Molly Dektar

The Maricá Basic Income Evaluation will examine the impacts of an unconditional, monthly cash payment policy to 42,000 citizens of the Brazilian city of Maricá. The policy, known as the Renda Basica de Cidadania (Citizens’ Basic Income), is funded by oil revenues, and was created in 2015 and expanded in 2019. As a response to Covid-19, in April 2020, the Maricá government more than doubled the transfer size for a six-month period.

An international, interdisciplinary research team of social scientists from the Jain Family Institute in New York City, USA, and the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niterói, Brazil, has embarked on a large-scale study of the program. We combine quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the effects of the program on Maricá’s citizens and economy.

For more information on the Maricá Basic Income Evaluation, visit our bilingual project website.