AI and robots are learning to do more and more of our work.

Whatever AI changes, keep your purpose. And a monthly income no one can cut.

Universal Elevation Income (UEI) gives every person money every month, for life, whether you work, are between jobs or are retired. No conditions, no forms. And if you want, you earn more on top for the good you do, like looking after your health or caring for someone. That part is optional: your monthly income never depends on it.

Elevation means lifting up. It lifts the floor under your life, and helps you rise from there.

You can only gain, never lose.

Add my name

Not live yet: this is a proposal for a first real-life test (the pilot). Each country would set its own amount. An independent proposal: not a political party, not a government. Add your name for one email when the pilot opens. Nothing else.

The worry

Worried about AI taking the work? You're not alone.

Machines are learning to drive, sort, type and build. Many people lie awake over this, and it's a fair thing to worry about. We won't tell you it's all good news. What we will say is this: it can go well, if we do it right.

Whether it's a desk, a hospital, a warehouse or a shop floor, most of us were never meant to spend most of our waking hours at work. We're meant to have time for the people we love: our children, our parents, our friends. Time outside, in nature. If you love your work, keep doing it; no one will ask you to stop. But if machines take on more of the work, they can give the rest of us that time back. Done right, that can make people happier.

It can become a good thing. If we do it right.

Why money alone isn't enough

Money pays the bills. It doesn't give you a reason to get up.

A job was never only a paycheck. It gave you a reason to get up, a place to be, and people who counted on you. Hand people the money and take away the job, and that part is still missing.

Cash alone doesn't fill that gap. In the largest US cash trial, people felt better at first, but by the end of the first year that boost had faded. (Source: OpenResearch study, 2024)

So Universal Elevation Income gives you both: the money, and a reason to get up.

The idea, part 1

Money every month, for life. No one can cut it.

Every person gets money every month, for life. You don't have to qualify, fill in forms to prove you're poor, or look for work to keep it. Nothing can shrink it, pause it or take it back. Lose a job, fall ill, study, grieve, raise a child or take time to find your feet, and it still arrives.

Today your income stands on things that can fall away: a job, shift hours, wages, a contract, benefits. This floor can't fall.

A job Shift hours Wages A contract Benefits Your monthly income, for life Everything else can fall away. This stays.

Guaranteed for life

Every month, no strings attached.

Never shrinks

Earn more on top, and your monthly income stays exactly where it is.

Yours alone

Paid to you, not to your household, so no one you live with can hold it back.

Today's benefits, like unemployment support, often shrink as you earn more, so every extra hour pays less than it should. Universal Elevation Income works the other way round. Your monthly income stays, and everything you add is extra.

A picture of the idea, not real amounts. Each country sets the real amount.

How much will it be? Each country sets its own amount, and the first pilot will publish the first real one. For a sense of scale, the trials further down this page paid €560 a month (Finland, government trial) and $500 a month (Stockton, California). Those were trials, not the amount of this income.

The idea, part 2

The more you help, the more you earn.

On top of your monthly income there's a way up, if you want it. Every good thing you do, for yourself or for someone else, takes you one step higher, and every step higher adds more to your income. Start on any step you like. The steps go up as the circle of people you help grows: you, your family, your street, a group, your whole town.

Like a game where everyone can win.

Nobody has to lose for you to go up. You choose if and when to start, and you can stop any time.

You can only gain, never lose.Your monthly income never depends on the steps. Starting never puts it at risk, and neither does stopping.

Your income, growing with every step
  1. I take care of my healthOne step up
  2. I learn something newOne step up
  3. I help a family memberOne step up
  4. I help a neighbourOne step up
  5. I coach or teach a groupOne step up
  6. I help my whole town, like a clean-up or a project everyone usesOne step up
Your monthly income for life, which never moves
  • Who pays the extra? The same as the monthly income: each country pays for its own, the way it pays for pensions today. Our aim is for the wealth that AI and robots create to help pay for it. More on that below.
  • Is anyone watching me? No. The way up is only for people who choose to join. Nobody watches you, and your monthly income never depends on it. The first pilot will test the way up in the open.
The science

Every step up is backed by science.

Everything Universal Elevation Income encourages has been studied by other researchers, many times over. Here is what each one does for the people who do it.

Moving more

In 1,039 trials with 128,119 adults, moving more cut depression and anxiety by a medium amount.

Singh et al. 2023

Sleeping well

In 65 trials with 8,608 people, sleeping better lowered depression, anxiety and stress. The better people slept, the better they felt.

Scott et al. 2021

Gratitude

Across 145 papers, 24,804 people and 28 countries, gratitude exercises lifted wellbeing, by a small but reliable amount.

Choi et al. 2025

Kindness and helping

In 27 experiments with 4,045 people, doing kind things made the helper happier.

Curry et al. 2018

Community

Following 5,055 adults over 50, depressed people who joined one club or group were 24% less likely to stay depressed. Three groups: 63% less. A link, not proof of cause.

Cruwys et al. 2013

The game

In 36 trials with 10,079 adults, adding a game to a step app gave a small boost of about 489 more steps a day. The boost fades when the game stops, which is why this game keeps going.

Nishi et al. 2024Mazeas et al. 2022

Nature

In a survey of 19,806 adults, about 2 hours a week in nature went with better health and wellbeing. A link, not proof of cause.

White et al. 2019

Caring for family

Compared with 3,503 similar people, 3,503 family carers had an 18% lower death rate over about 6 years. A link, not proof of cause.

Roth et al. 2013

Learning

Older adults who spent about three months learning a demanding new skill, like digital photography, improved their memory more than people who only socialised.

Park et al. 2014

140 published studies

Every one is linked, so you can read it yourself.

See all 140 studies, by what they cover

Moving more 18

  1. Singh B, Olds T, Curtis R, et al. (2023). Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine.When adults were helped to move more, they felt less sad, less worried and less stressed than people who got normal care.
  2. Noetel M, Sanders T, Gallardo-Gomez D, et al. (2024). Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ.For people with real (major) depression, walking or jogging, yoga and strength training lowered depression by a moderate amount, and harder exercise helped more.
  3. Rebar AL, Stanton R, Geard D, Short C, Duncan MJ, Vandelanotte C. (2015). A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations. Health Psychology Review.Even in ordinary adults without a diagnosis, being active lowered sad feelings a medium amount and worried feelings a small amount.
  4. Schuch FB, Vancampfort D, Firth J, et al. (2018). Physical Activity and Incident Depression: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. American Journal of Psychiatry.People who were more active were about 17% less likely to become depressed later, in every age group and region studied.
  5. Pearce M, Garcia L, Abbas A, et al. (2022). Association Between Physical Activity and Risk of Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry.Adults who did even half the recommended exercise had about a fifth less chance of getting depressed, and the first bit of activity helped the most.
  6. Buecker S, Simacek T, Ingwersen B, Terwiel S, Simonsmeier BA. (2021). Physical activity and subjective well-being in healthy individuals: a meta-analytic review. Health Psychology Review.Healthy people who are more active are a little happier, mostly because they feel more good feelings, and this also showed up in experiments.
  7. Chekroud SR, Gueorguieva R, Zheutlin AB, et al. (2018). Association between physical exercise and mental health in 1.2 million individuals in the USA between 2011 and 2015: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Psychiatry.Americans who exercised had about one and a half fewer bad mental-health days each month, and team sports showed the biggest link.
  8. Yang PY, Ho KH, Chen HC, Chien MY. (2012). Exercise training improves sleep quality in middle-aged and older adults with sleep problems: a systematic review. Journal of Physiotherapy.Older adults with sleep problems who did an exercise programme said they slept better and fell asleep faster, but did not sleep longer.
  9. Paluch AE, Bajpai S, Bassett DR, et al. (2022). Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts. Lancet Public Health.Adults who walked the most steps each day were about half as likely to die during the study as those who walked the least.
  10. Ekelund U, Tarp J, Steene-Johannessen J, et al. (2019). Dose-response associations between accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time and all cause mortality: systematic review and harmonised meta-analysis. BMJ.Middle-aged and older people who moved the most, even gently, had a much lower chance of dying early than those who moved the least.
  11. Stensvold D, Viken H, Steinshamn SL, et al. (2020). Effect of exercise training for five years on all cause mortality in older adults - the Generation 100 study: randomised controlled trial. BMJ.In a five-year trial, older Norwegians given supervised exercise classes did not live longer than those just told to follow activity guidelines.
  12. Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Lobelo F, Puska P, Blair SN, Katzmarzyk PT. (2012). Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. Lancet.Scientists estimated that not moving enough causes about one in eleven early deaths in the world, plus a share of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.
  13. Singh B, Bennett H, Miatke A, et al. (2025). Effectiveness of exercise for improving cognition, memory and executive function: a systematic umbrella review and meta-meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine.Across thousands of trials, exercise helped people think, remember and plan a bit better, especially children.
  14. Ciria LF, Roman-Caballero R, Vadillo MA, et al. (2023). An umbrella review of randomized control trials on the effects of physical exercise on cognition. Nature Human Behaviour.For healthy people, once weak and missing studies are accounted for, the thinking boost from exercise almost disappears.
  15. Northey JM, Cherbuin N, Pumpa KL, Smee DJ, Rattray B. (2018). Exercise interventions for cognitive function in adults older than 50: a systematic review with meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine.In people over 50, exercise programmes improved thinking skills by a small amount.
  16. Grimani A, Aboagye E, Kwak L. (2019). The effectiveness of workplace nutrition and physical activity interventions in improving productivity, work performance and workability: a systematic review. BMC Public Health.Workplace exercise and healthy-eating programmes sometimes cut sick days, but most studies found no clear change in how much people got done.
  17. Wang D, Wang Y, Wang Y, Li R, Zhou C. (2014). Impact of physical exercise on substance use disorders: a meta-analysis. PLoS One.People being treated for addiction who exercised were more likely to stay off the substance and felt less anxious and down.
  18. Mitchell MS, Orstad SL, Biswas A, et al. (2020). Financial incentives for physical activity in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine.Paying adults a small amount (about $1.40 a day) made them walk around 600 more steps a day, and some of that stayed after payments ended.

Sleeping well 12

  1. Scott AJ, Webb TL, Martyn-St James M, Rowse G, Weich S (2021). Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Sleep Medicine Reviews 60:101556.When people were helped to sleep better, their worry, sadness and stress went down, and the better they slept the better they felt.
  2. Espie CA, Emsley R, Kyle SD, et al. (2019). Effect of Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia on Health, Psychological Well-being, and Sleep-Related Quality of Life: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry 76(1):21-30.People who learned to sleep better felt a bit healthier and happier six months later, and much less bothered by tiredness.
  3. Cheng P, Kalmbach DA, Tallent G, Joseph CL, Espie CA, Drake CL (2019). Depression prevention via digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a randomized controlled trial. Sleep 42(10):zsz150.Treating bad sleep cut the chance of later becoming seriously depressed by about half over one year.
  4. Baglioni C, Battagliese G, Feige B, et al. (2011). Insomnia as a predictor of depression: a meta-analytic evaluation of longitudinal epidemiological studies. Journal of Affective Disorders 135(1-3):10-19.People who sleep badly but are not sad yet are about twice as likely to become depressed later.
  5. Palmer CA, Bower JL, Cho KW, Clementi MA, Lau S, Oosterhoff B, Alfano CA (2024). Sleep loss and emotion: A systematic review and meta-analysis of over 50 years of experimental research. Psychological Bulletin 150(4):440-463.When healthy people lose sleep in a lab, they feel less happy and more anxious the next day.
  6. Kudrnáčová M, Kudrnáč A (2023). Better sleep, better life? testing the role of sleep on quality of life. PLoS One 18(3):e0282085.When the same people's sleep got better from one year to the next, they tended to be more satisfied and happier too.
  7. Cappuccio FP, D'Elia L, Strazzullo P, Miller MA (2010). Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep 33(5):585-592.People who usually sleep too little were about 12% more likely to die during the study, and people who sleep a lot were also more likely to die.
  8. Shan Z, Ma H, Xie M, et al. (2015). Sleep duration and risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Diabetes Care 38(3):529-537.Each hour of sleep below seven was linked to about 9% more chance of getting diabetes, and sleeping way too long was linked to more too.
  9. Lim J, Dinges DF (2010). A meta-analysis of the impact of short-term sleep deprivation on cognitive variables. Psychological Bulletin 136(3):375-389.Staying up all night makes attention much worse, but hardly changes careful reasoning.
  10. Hafner M, Stepanek M, Taylor J, Troxel WM, van Stolk C (2017). Why Sleep Matters - The Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep: A Cross-Country Comparative Analysis. RAND Health Quarterly 6(4):11.Not sleeping enough costs the US economy hundreds of billions of dollars a year because tired people get less done and die earlier.
  11. Ben Simon E, Vallat R, Rossi A, Walker MP (2022). Sleep loss leads to the withdrawal of human helping across individuals, groups, and large-scale societies. PLoS Biology 20(8):e3001733.After a bad night, people wanted to help others less, and when clocks jumped forward and everyone lost an hour of sleep, people gave about 10% less to charity.
  12. Van Veen MM, Lancel M, Şener O, Verkes RJ, Bouman EJ, Rutters F (2022). Observational and experimental studies on sleep duration and aggression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews 66:101661.People who sleep less tend to be a bit more aggressive, but experiments that change sleep give mixed results.

Gratitude 15

  1. Choi H, Cha Y, McCullough ME, Coles NA, Oishi S (2025). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of gratitude interventions on well-being across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).Across many countries, people who did gratitude exercises became a little happier than people who did not.
  2. Davis DE, Choe E, Meyers J, Wade N, Varjas K, Gifford A, Quinn A, Hook JN, Van Tongeren DR, Griffin BJ, Worthington EL (2016). Thankful for the little things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions. Journal of Counseling Psychology.Gratitude exercises made people feel a bit better than doing nothing, but no better than other good-for-you mental exercises, and they did not clearly reduce anxiety.
  3. Cregg DR, Cheavens JS (2021). Gratitude interventions: Effective self-help? A meta-analysis of the impact on symptoms of depression and anxiety. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22, 413-445.Gratitude exercises lowered sad and worried feelings only a little, and the authors say people with depression should use stronger treatments first.
  4. Boggiss AL, Consedine NS, Brenton-Peters JM, Hofman PL, Serlachius AS (2020). A systematic review of gratitude interventions: Effects on physical health and health behaviors. Journal of Psychosomatic Research.Gratitude practice often helped people say they slept better, but for body health the evidence is thin and mixed.
  5. Ma LK, Tunney RJ, Ferguson E (2017). Does gratitude enhance prosociality?: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin.People who feel grateful tend to help and give to others more.
  6. Komase Y, Watanabe K, Hori D, Nozawa K, Hidaka Y, Iida M, Imamura K, Kawakami N (2021). Effects of gratitude intervention on mental health and well-being among workers: A systematic review. Journal of Occupational Health, 63(1), e12290.At work, writing gratitude lists helped people feel less stressed and less down, but did not clearly make them happier at work.
  7. Emmons RA, McCullough ME (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389.People who wrote down things they were thankful for felt more positive, and in some groups they exercised more, slept better and helped others more.
  8. Seligman MEP, Steen TA, Park N, Peterson C (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410-421.Writing and delivering a thank-you letter gave the biggest happiness boost, but it faded after a few months; writing three good things each day kept helping for six months, especially for people who kept doing it.
  9. Mongrain M, Anselmo-Matthews T (2012). Do positive psychology exercises work? A replication of Seligman et al. (2005). Journal of Clinical Psychology.When scientists repeated the famous study with a better comparison group, the gratitude-style exercise was no better than simply thinking about good things about yourself, and it did not beat the control for sadness.
  10. Cheng ST, Tsui PK, Lam JH (2015). Improving mental health in health care practitioners: randomized controlled trial of a gratitude intervention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.Hospital staff who wrote down things they were thankful for at work felt much less stressed and a bit less depressed three months later.
  11. Jackowska M, Brown J, Ronaldson A, Steptoe A (2016). The impact of a brief gratitude intervention on subjective well-being, biology and sleep. Journal of Health Psychology.Young women who practised gratitude for two weeks felt happier, slept better and had slightly lower blood pressure.
  12. Redwine LS, Henry BL, Pung MA, Wilson K, Chinh K, Knight B, Jain S, Rutledge T, Greenberg B, Maisel A, Mills PJ (2016). Pilot randomized study of a gratitude journaling intervention on heart rate variability and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with Stage B heart failure. Psychosomatic Medicine.Heart patients who kept a gratitude journal for eight weeks had lower signs of inflammation in their blood.
  13. Chen Y, Okereke OI, Kim ES, Tiemeier H, Kubzansky LD, VanderWeele TJ (2024). Gratitude and Mortality Among Older US Female Nurses. JAMA Psychiatry.Older women who felt the most grateful were somewhat less likely to die in the next few years than the least grateful women.
  14. Lambert NM, Clark MS, Durtschi J, Fincham FD, Graham SM (2010). Benefits of expressing gratitude: expressing gratitude to a partner changes one's view of the relationship. Psychological Science.Saying thank you out loud to a friend made people feel closer to that friend than just thinking grateful thoughts did.
  15. Trinh CD, Girard A, Schick MR, Spillane NS (2023). Positive psychological interventions on alcohol use and consequences: Pilot randomized trial in a young adult cannabis-using sample. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment.In a tiny trial, writing three good things a day did not clearly change how much young people drank.

Kindness and helping 20

  1. Hui BPH, Ng JCK, Berzaghi E, Cunningham-Amos LA, Kogan A (2020). Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. Psychological Bulletin 146(12):1084-1116.Across about 200,000 people, those who help others are a bit happier and feel their life has more purpose, but the link is small.
  2. Curry OS, Rowland LA, Van Lissa CJ, Zlotowitz S, McAlaney J, Whitehouse H (2018). Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 76:320-329.In experiments where people were asked to do kind things, they became somewhat happier than people who were not asked.
  3. Jenkinson CE, Dickens AP, Jones K, Thompson-Coon J, Taylor RS, Rogers M, Bambra CL, Lang I, Richards SH (2013). Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers. BMC Public Health 13:773.Volunteers in long-term studies were less depressed and died less often, but the trials that tested this properly did not confirm the mood benefit.
  4. Filges T, Siren A, Fridberg T, Nielsen BCV (2020). Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews 16(4):e1124.Older people who volunteer die a bit less often, but for most other health outcomes there is not enough good evidence yet.
  5. Okun MA, Yeung EW, Brown S (2013). Volunteering by older adults and risk of mortality: a meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging 28(2):564-577.Older people who volunteer are less likely to die over the following years, even after taking their health into account.
  6. Lawton RN, Gramatki I, Watt W, Fujiwara D (2021). Does Volunteering Make Us Happier, or Are Happier People More Likely to Volunteer? Journal of Happiness Studies 22(2):599-624.People in the UK became happier after they started volunteering, not only because happy people volunteer more.
  7. Kamerāde D, Bennett MR (2018). Rewarding Work: Cross-National Differences in Benefits, Volunteering During Unemployment, Well-Being and Mental Health. Work, Employment and Society 32(1):38-56.For unemployed people, volunteering helped a little, but where benefits were low it went with worse mental health, so money security mattered more.
  8. Dunn EW, Aknin LB, Norton MI (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science 319(5870):1687-1688.People given money to spend on someone else were happier that evening than people told to spend it on themselves.
  9. Aknin LB, Dunn EW, Proulx J, Lok I, Norton MI (2020). Does spending money on others promote happiness?: A registered replication report. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 119(2):e15-e26.Large, pre-registered repeats found that giving money makes people a little happier, but one of the three tests found nothing.
  10. Kim G, Adams I, Diaw M, Celly M, Nelson LD, Jung MH (2022). Prosocial spending encourages happiness: A replication of the only experiment reported in Dunn, Aknin, and Norton (2008). PLoS ONE 17(9):e0272434.An independent team repeated the famous money experiment: the original test found no difference, and a simpler happiness question did.
  11. Aknin LB, Barrington-Leigh CP, Dunn EW, Helliwell JF, et al. (2013). Prosocial spending and well-being: cross-cultural evidence for a psychological universal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 104(4):635-652.In rich and poor countries alike, people who give money to others are happier, and small experiments show giving causes a mood lift.
  12. Nelson SK, Layous K, Cole SW, Lyubomirsky S (2016). Do unto others or treat yourself? The effects of prosocial and self-focused behavior on psychological flourishing. Emotion 16(6):850-861.For 6 weeks, people told to be kind to others grew happier, but people told to treat themselves did not.
  13. Schreier HMC, Schonert-Reichl KA, Chen E (2013). Effect of volunteering on risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adolescents: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA Pediatrics 167(4):327-332.Teenagers who helped younger children once a week had slightly better heart-health blood markers four months later.
  14. Whillans AV, Dunn EW, Sandstrom GM, Dickerson SS, Madden KM (2016). Is spending money on others good for your heart? Health Psychology 35(6):574-583.Older people with high blood pressure who spent money on others for 3 weeks had lower blood pressure afterwards.
  15. Poulin MJ, Brown SL, Dillard AJ, Smith DM (2013). Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality. American Journal of Public Health 103(9):1649-1655.Stressful events raised the risk of dying for people who did not help others, but not for people who did.
  16. Konrath S, Fuhrel-Forbis A, Lou A, Brown S (2012). Motives for volunteering are associated with mortality risk in older adults. Health Psychology 31(1):87-96.Volunteers lived longer only if they helped mainly for others' sake, not for their own benefit.
  17. Weinstein N, Ryan RM (2010). When helping helps: autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 98(2):222-244.Helping makes the helper and the person helped feel better mainly when the helper chose to help, not when pushed.
  18. Carr DC, Kail BL, Matz-Costa C, Shavit YZ (2018). Does Becoming A Volunteer Attenuate Loneliness Among Recently Widowed Older Adults? Journals of Gerontology Series B 73(3):501-510.People who lost a spouse and started volunteering 2 or more hours a week became about as un-lonely as married people.
  19. Carlson MC, Kuo JH, Chuang YF, et al. (2015). Impact of the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial on cortical and hippocampal volumes. Alzheimer's & Dementia 11(11):1340-1348.Older men who tutored children for two years kept, and even grew, brain areas that usually shrink with age.
  20. Allen JP, Philliber S, Herrling S, Kuperminc GP (1997). Preventing teen pregnancy and academic failure: Experimental evaluation of a developmentally based approach. Child Development 68(4):729-742.Teenagers put into a volunteer-service programme had fewer pregnancies, failed classes and suspensions than those who were not.

Community 16

  1. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science 10(2):227-237.People who were cut off from others, felt lonely or lived alone were about 26-32% more likely to die during the studies.
  2. Wang F, Gao Y, Han Z, et al. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of 90 cohort studies of social isolation, loneliness and mortality. Nature Human Behaviour 7:1307-1319.In 2.2 million people, being isolated went with about a one-third higher risk of dying, and feeling lonely with a 14% higher risk.
  3. Valtorta NK, Kanaan M, Gilbody S, Ronzi S, Hanratty B (2016). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal observational studies. Heart 102(13):1009-1016.People with poor social relationships were about 30% more likely to get heart disease or have a stroke.
  4. Yang YC, Boen C, Gerken K, Li T, Schorpp K, Harris KM (2016). Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span. PNAS 113(3):578-583.Young people and older people with fewer social ties had worse body health signs, such as more inflammation and higher blood pressure.
  5. Kuiper JS, Zuidersma M, Oude Voshaar RC, et al. (2015). Social relationships and risk of dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. Ageing Research Reviews 22:39-57.Older people who took part in fewer social activities, saw people less often or felt lonely were about 40-60% more likely to get dementia.
  6. Cruwys T, Dingle GA, Haslam C, Haslam SA, Jetten J, Morton TA (2013). Social group memberships protect against future depression, alleviate depression symptoms and prevent depression relapse. Social Science & Medicine 98:179-186.Depressed older people who joined one club or group were a quarter less likely to stay depressed, and joining three groups cut that risk by almost two-thirds.
  7. Santini ZI, Jose PE, York Cornwell E, et al. (2020). Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and symptoms of depression and anxiety among older Americans (NSHAP): a longitudinal mediation analysis. Lancet Public Health 5(1):e62-e70.Older people with fewer social contacts later felt more alone, and feeling alone came before more depression and anxiety, and the reverse was also true.
  8. Haslam C, Cruwys T, Chang MX-L, et al. (2019). GROUPS 4 HEALTH reduces loneliness and social anxiety in adults with psychological distress: findings from a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 87(9):787-801.A short course that helped distressed adults join and keep groups made them much less lonely than usual care did.
  9. Masi CM, Chen H-Y, Hawkley LC, Cacioppo JT (2011). A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Review 15(3):219-266.When programmes to cure loneliness are tested fairly, they help only a little, and weaker study designs make them look better than they are.
  10. Griffin SC, Williams AB, Ravyts SG, Mladen SN, Rybarczyk BD (2020). Loneliness and sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Open 7(1):2055102920913235.Lonely people report more troubled sleep, but they do not sleep fewer hours.
  11. Steffens NK, Cruwys T, Haslam C, Jetten J, Haslam SA (2016). Social group memberships in retirement are associated with reduced risk of premature death: evidence from a longitudinal cohort study. BMJ Open 6(2):e010164.New retirees who kept their clubs and groups were less likely to die in the next six years and enjoyed life more than those who dropped them.
  12. Helliwell JF, Putnam RD (2004). The social context of well-being. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359(1449):1435-1446.In very large surveys, people with more ties to family, friends, neighbours, workmates and community groups said they were happier and more satisfied with life.
  13. Sandstrom GM, Dunn EW (2014). Social interactions and well-being: the surprising power of weak ties. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 40(7):910-922.Students felt happier on days they chatted with more classmates, even ones who were not close friends.
  14. Ozcelik H, Barsade SG (2018). No employee an island: workplace loneliness and job performance. Academy of Management Journal 61(6):2343-2366.Workers who felt lonely at work were rated by their bosses as doing their jobs less well.
  15. Twenge JM, Baumeister RF, DeWall CN, Ciarocco NJ, Bartels JM (2007). Social exclusion decreases prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92(1):56-66.When people in lab tests were made to feel left out, they gave, helped and cooperated less.
  16. Office of the US Surgeon General (2023). Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The US Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community. US Department of Health and Human Services.The top US doctor's report says that being lonely or cut off is about as risky for an early death as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and that about half of American adults feel lonely.

The game 14

  1. Nishi SK, Kavanagh ME, Ramboanga K, et al. (2024). Effect of digital health applications with or without gamification on physical activity and cardiometabolic risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. eClinicalMedicine 76:102798.Apps with game parts helped adults walk a bit more and lose a little weight compared with the same kind of app without the game, but did not change blood pressure, cholesterol or blood sugar.
  2. Mazeas A, Duclos M, Pereira B, Chalabaev A (2022). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Gamification on Physical Activity: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal of Medical Internet Research 24(1):e26779.Game-style programmes got people moving more, the effect was small to medium while the game ran, and it shrank to small a few months after the game stopped.
  3. Patel MS, Small DS, Harrison JD, et al. (2019). Effectiveness of Behaviorally Designed Gamification Interventions With Social Incentives for Increasing Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults Across the United States: The STEP UP Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Internal Medicine 179(12):1624-1632.Playing a step game with other people made overweight adults walk about 600 to 900 more steps a day, competing worked best, and after the game stopped only the competition group was still clearly walking more.
  4. Patel MS, Benjamin EJ, Volpp KG, et al. (2017). Effect of a Game-Based Intervention Designed to Enhance Social Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Families: The BE FIT Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Internal Medicine 177(11):1586-1593.Families who played a step game together walked about 950 more steps a day, and still about 500 more three months after the game ended.
  5. Patel MS, Small DS, Harrison JD, et al. (2021). Effect of Behaviorally Designed Gamification With Social Incentives on Lifestyle Modification Among Adults With Uncontrolled Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open 4(5):e2110255.A year-long step game helped adults with poorly controlled diabetes walk about 500 to 600 more steps a day, but their weight and blood sugar did not improve more than in the group without the game.
  6. Waddell KJ, Patel MS, Clark K, Harrington TO, Greysen SR (2022). Effect of Gamification With Social Incentives on Daily Steps After Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Neurology 79(5):528-530.People who had had a stroke walked about 1,000 more steps a day when they played a step game with a support partner.
  7. Johnson D, Deterding S, Kuhn KA, Staneva A, Stoyanov S, Hides L (2016). Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature. Internet Interventions 6:89-106.Across early studies, game parts usually helped health habits, but many results were mixed and most studies were not very strong.
  8. Six SG, Byrne KA, Tibbett TP, Pericot-Valverde I (2021). Examining the Effectiveness of Gamification in Mental Health Apps for Depression: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JMIR Mental Health 8(11):e32199.Mental health apps helped people feel a little less depressed, but apps with game parts did not work any better than apps without them.
  9. Litvin S, Saunders R, Maier MA, Luttke S (2020). Gamification as an approach to improve resilience and reduce attrition in mobile mental health interventions: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS One 15(9):e0237220.A story-game app for mental skills raised people's resilience and wellbeing a little over five weeks and kept more people using it than a plain journal app.
  10. Imran Ho DSH, Jabir F, Sallahuddin SN, et al. (2025). The impact of gamification on smoking cessation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Tobacco Induced Diseases 23:June.Smokers using game-style quit programmes were about twice as likely to have quit in the first months and about a third more likely after six months.
  11. Sanudo B, Sanchez-Trigo H, Dominguez R, et al. (2024). A randomized controlled mHealth trial that evaluates social comparison-oriented gamification to improve physical activity, sleep quantity, and quality of life in young adults. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 72:102590.A leaderboard app helped young adults do a bit more moderate exercise but did not change how much or how well they slept.
  12. Sala G, Tatlidil KS, Gobet F (2018). Video game training does not enhance cognitive ability: A comprehensive meta-analytic investigation. Psychological Bulletin 144(2):111-139.Playing video games to train the brain does not make people smarter in general.
  13. Etkin J (2016). The Hidden Cost of Personal Quantification. Journal of Consumer Research 42(6):967-984.Counting what you do can make you do more of it but enjoy it less.
  14. Mollick ER, Rothbard NP (2014). Mandatory Fun: Consent, Gamification and the Impact of Games at Work. Wharton School working paper, SSRN 2277103.A workplace game made salespeople happier only if they had bought into it, made unwilling players less happy, and did not help sales.

Nature 16

  1. White MP, Alcock I, Grellier J, Wheeler BW, Hartig T, Warber SL, Bone A, Depledge MH, Fleming LE (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports.People who spent about two hours a week in nature said they felt healthier and happier than people who spent no time there.
  2. Twohig-Bennett C, Jones A (2018). The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes. Environmental Research.Across more than 140 studies, people with more green space around them had lower stress hormones, lower heart rate, less diabetes, and a lower chance of dying early.
  3. Rojas-Rueda D, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Gascon M, Perez-Leon D, Mudu P (2019). Green spaces and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. The Lancet Planetary Health.In studies following over 8 million people, those living with more greenery around their home were slightly less likely to die during follow-up.
  4. James P, Hart JE, Banay RF, Laden F (2016). Exposure to Greenness and Mortality in a Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study of Women. Environmental Health Perspectives.Nurses living in the greenest neighbourhoods were 12% less likely to die over eight years than nurses in the least green ones.
  5. Coventry PA, Brown JE, Pervin J, Brabyn S, Pateman R, Breedvelt J, Gilbody S, Stancliffe R, McEachan R, White PL (2021). Nature-based outdoor activities for mental and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SSM - Population Health.In controlled trials, structured outdoor nature activities like gardening and green exercise lowered depression and anxiety and raised good feelings.
  6. Bratman GN, Hamilton JP, Hahn KS, Daily GC, Gross JJ (2015). Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. PNAS.After a 90-minute walk in nature, people spent less time stuck in negative thoughts about themselves, and a brain area linked to that went quieter; a city walk did not do this.
  7. Alcock I, White MP, Wheeler BW, Fleming LE, Depledge MH (2014). Longitudinal effects on mental health of moving to greener and less green urban areas. Environmental Science & Technology.People who moved to a greener neighbourhood had better mental health for at least three years after the move.
  8. Engemann K, Pedersen CB, Arge L, Tsirogiannis C, Mortensen PB, Svenning JC (2019). Residential green space in childhood is associated with lower risk of psychiatric disorders from adolescence into adulthood. PNAS.Danish children who grew up with the least greenery around their home had up to 55% higher risk of later mental illness than children with the most.
  9. Hunter MR, Gillespie BW, Chen SY (2019). Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers. Frontiers in Psychology.When city dwellers spent 20-30 minutes in a natural place, their stress hormone dropped more than it normally would.
  10. Shin JC, Parab KV, An R, Grigsby-Toussaint DS (2020). Greenspace exposure and sleep: A systematic review. Environmental Research.Most studies found that people with more contact with green space slept better and longer.
  11. Ohly H, White MP, Wheeler BW, Bethel A, Ukoumunne OC, Nikolaou V, Garside R (2016). Attention Restoration Theory: A systematic review of the attention restoration potential of exposure to natural environments. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B.Being in nature helped some kinds of focus and memory tests, but most attention tests did not clearly improve.
  12. Capaldi CA, Dopko RL, Zelenski JM (2014). The relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology.People who feel closer to nature tend to be a bit happier, more lively and more satisfied with life.
  13. de Vries S, van Dillen SM, Groenewegen PP, Spreeuwenberg P (2013). Streetscape greenery and health: stress, social cohesion and physical activity as mediators. Social Science & Medicine.Greener streets went with better health, mostly because people there felt less stressed and more connected to their neighbours.
  14. Putra IGNE, Astell-Burt T, Cliff DP, Vella SA, John EE, Feng X (2020). The Relationship Between Green Space and Prosocial Behaviour Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Psychology.Children with more green space nearby were sometimes kinder and more helpful, but the evidence is still too weak to be sure.
  15. Branas CC, South E, Kondo MC, Hohl BC, Bourgois P, Wiebe DJ, MacDonald JM (2018). Citywide cluster randomized trial to restore blighted vacant land and its effects on violence, crime, and fear. PNAS.When empty, messy lots in poor Philadelphia neighbourhoods were cleaned and planted with grass, gun violence nearby fell by almost a third.
  16. Wiley ER, Stranges S, Gilliland JA, Anderson KK, Seabrook JA (2022). Residential greenness and substance use among youth and young adults: Associations with alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use. Environmental Research.Young people in greener areas smoked less and binge-drank less often, but used more marijuana.

Caring for family 14

  1. Brown SL, Nesse RM, Vinokur AD, Smith DM (2003). Providing social support may be more beneficial than receiving it: results from a prospective study of mortality. Psychological Science.Older people who helped their relatives, friends and neighbours, or comforted their husband or wife, were less likely to die in the next five years than people who did not.
  2. Roth DL, Haley WE, Hovater M, Perkins M, Wadley VG, Judd S (2013). Family caregiving and all-cause mortality: findings from a population-based propensity-matched analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology.People who looked after a sick or disabled family member were a bit less likely to die over six years than similar people who did not.
  3. Roth DL, Fredman L, Haley WE (2015). Informal caregiving and its impact on health: a reappraisal from population-based studies. The Gerontologist.When researchers look at large, ordinary groups of caregivers rather than only the most stressed ones, caregivers on average live a little longer, not shorter.
  4. Schulz R, Beach SR (1999). Caregiving as a risk factor for mortality: the Caregiver Health Effects Study. JAMA.Older people caring for a husband or wife who felt emotionally strained by it were more likely to die, while caregivers who did not feel strained were not.
  5. Hilbrand S, Coall DA, Gerstorf D, Hertwig R (2017). Caregiving within and beyond the family is associated with lower mortality for the caregiver: a prospective study. Evolution and Human Behavior.Grandparents who sometimes looked after their grandchildren lived several years longer than older people who did not help.
  6. Kahneman D, Krueger AB, Schkade DA, Schwarz N, Stone AA (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: the day reconstruction method. Science.People felt happiest during the day when they were with friends and relatives and least happy when alone, but the hands-on work of looking after children felt only a little better than housework.
  7. Pinquart M, Sörensen S (2003). Differences between caregivers and noncaregivers in psychological health and physical health: a meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging.People caring for a frail older relative tend to feel more stressed and down, and a little less happy, than people who are not caregivers, especially when the relative has dementia.
  8. Vitaliano PP, Zhang J, Scanlan JM (2003). Is caregiving hazardous to one's physical health? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin.Looking after a relative with dementia is linked to slightly worse body health, especially stress hormones and the immune system.
  9. Gao C, Chapagain NY, Scullin MK (2019). Sleep duration and sleep quality in caregivers of patients with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open.People caring for a relative with dementia lose about 2.5 to 3.5 hours of sleep a week and sleep worse, but simple sleep-help programmes improve their sleep.
  10. Sörensen S, Pinquart M, Duberstein P (2002). How effective are interventions with caregivers? An updated meta-analysis. The Gerontologist.Teaching and counselling programmes for family caregivers make them feel less burdened and less depressed, by a small-to-moderate amount.
  11. Belle SH, Burgio L, Burns R, et al., REACH II Investigators (2006). Enhancing the quality of life of dementia caregivers from different ethnic or racial groups: a randomized, controlled trial. Annals of Internal Medicine.A six-month support programme for people caring for a relative with dementia cut the share who were clinically depressed from about 1 in 5 to about 1 in 8.
  12. Robles TF, Slatcher RB, Trombello JM, McGinn MM (2014). Marital quality and health: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin.People in happier marriages tend to be a little healthier and live a little longer, about as much as eating well helps.
  13. Harrison ME, Norris ML, Obeid N, Fu M, Weinstangel H, Sampson M (2015). Systematic review of the effects of family meal frequency on psychosocial outcomes in youth. Canadian Family Physician.Teenagers who often eat meals with their family are less likely to use alcohol or drugs, be violent or feel depressed.
  14. Fu R, Guo J, Coyte PC (2021). Men who care too much do not work: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of unpaid caregiving by men on their labour market participation. Research Square preprint (not peer-reviewed at time of posting).Men who regularly care for a family member are somewhat less likely to have a paid job.

Learning 15

  1. Su S, Shi L, Zheng Y, et al. (2022). Leisure Activities and the Risk of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Neurology 99(15):e1651-e1663.People who often did mentally challenging hobbies were about a quarter less likely to get dementia later.
  2. Wilson RS, Wang T, Yu L, Grodstein F, Bennett DA, Boyle PA (2021). Cognitive Activity and Onset Age of Incident Alzheimer Disease Dementia. Neurology 97(9):e922-e929.Older people who kept their minds busy got Alzheimer's about five years later than those who did not, even though their brains showed the same disease.
  3. Meng X, D'Arcy C (2012). Education and dementia in the context of the cognitive reserve hypothesis: a systematic review with meta-analyses and qualitative analyses. PLoS One 7(6):e38268.People with little schooling were almost twice as likely to get dementia as people with more schooling.
  4. Ritchie SJ, Tucker-Drob EM (2018). How Much Does Education Improve Intelligence? A Meta-Analysis. Psychological Science 29(8):1358-1369.Each extra year of school makes people a little smarter on tests, by about 1 to 5 IQ points, and it lasts.
  5. Park DC, Lodi-Smith J, Drew L, Haber S, Hebrank A, Bischof GN, Aamodt W (2014). The Impact of Sustained Engagement on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: The Synapse Project. Psychological Science 25(1):103-112.Older people who spent three months learning a hard new skill such as digital photography got better at remembering things than people who just socialised.
  6. Brouwer J, van den Berg F, Knooihuizen R, Loerts H, Keijzer M (2025). The effects of language learning on cognitive functioning and psychosocial well-being in cognitively healthy older adults: A semi-blind randomized controlled trial. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition 32(2).Older people who learned English got a bit sharper, but about as much as people who learned music, so learning any hard new thing may help similarly.
  7. Sala G, Gobet F (2017). Does Far Transfer Exist? Negative Evidence From Chess, Music, and Working Memory Training. Current Directions in Psychological Science 26(6):515-520.Learning chess or music makes you better at chess or music, but careful studies find it barely makes you smarter at other things.
  8. Guo Y, Yang F (2025). Adult Education and Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Nationwide Longitudinal Cohort Study in China. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, gbaf060.Middle-aged and older Chinese adults who took adult-education classes were about a quarter less likely to feel depressed.
  9. Feinstein L, Hammond C, Woods L, Preston J, Bynner J (2003). The Contribution of Adult Learning to Health and Social Capital. Wider Benefits of Learning Research Report No. 8, Institute of Education, London (journal version: Feinstein & Hammond 2004, Oxford Review of Education 30(2):199-221).British adults who took a few courses in their 30s were a bit more likely to quit smoking, exercise more, join groups and stay satisfied with life, but the courses did not protect them from depression.
  10. Jenkins A, Mostafa T (2015). The effects of learning on wellbeing for older adults in England. Ageing & Society 35(10):2053-2070.Older English adults who joined informal learning groups such as arts, music or evening classes felt better about their lives, but formal training courses did not show this.
  11. Sabates R, Feinstein L (2006). The role of education in the uptake of preventative health care: the case of cervical screening in Britain. Social Science & Medicine 62(12):2998-3010.Women who took qualification courses as adults were a little more likely to go for cancer screening.
  12. Balaj M, Henson CA, Aronsson A, et al. (2024). Effects of education on adult mortality: a global systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Public Health 9(3):e155-e165.Every extra year of school is linked to about a 2% lower chance of dying in any given period as an adult.
  13. Card D, Kluve J, Weber A (2018). What Works? A Meta Analysis of Recent Active Labor Market Program Evaluations. Journal of the European Economic Association 16(3):894-931 (NBER Working Paper 21431).Job-training courses for unemployed people don't help much at first, but after two or three years they help more people find work.
  14. Dearden L, Reed H, Van Reenen J (2006). The Impact of Training on Productivity and Wages: Evidence from British Panel Data. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 68(4):397-421.When more workers in an industry get training, each worker produces a bit more, and the gain in output is about twice the gain in pay.
  15. Davis LM, Bozick R, Steele JL, Saunders J, Miles JNV (2013). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults. RAND Corporation RR-266.Prisoners who took education classes inside prison were much less likely to end up back in prison.
Your freedom

Your life. Your choice. Always.

No conditions

Your monthly income never depends on what you do, what you share or how you live. There's nothing to prove and nothing to apply for.

You choose

Climb, or don't. Pick what you care about. Stop any time. Nobody tells you how to live.

Never used against you

Designed so no one can switch off your income to punish you for what you say or what you believe. We're asking for this rule to be written into law, not just promised on a website.

Safe at home

If someone at home controls the money, your income still goes to you and only you.

Nobody watches you to decide your income. This website keeps only what you type into its forms, and we never sell it.

Who wins

Good for you. Good for governments. Good for everyone.

A plan like this only lasts if it works for the people who get it and the countries that pay for it. Universal Elevation Income is built for both.

For you

Money every month that no one can cut, and a way up whenever you want it.

For your street

More people with something that matters to do: coaching, caring, teaching, cleaning up. Neighbours who know each other.

For governments

The monthly income is one simple payment to everyone, with no forms to check. Today's rules often miss the people they're for: studies regularly find that 40% or more of people who could get help meant for people on low incomes never claim it (OECD, Immervoll 2010). This income reaches everyone.

For the future

People who stay healthy, active and connected, even when machines do the work. That makes a stronger country.

Who pays? Short answer: each country, from public money, the way it pays for pensions today. Someone always pays for what a country does, and we won't pretend otherwise. Rich countries already spend about a fifth (21%) of everything their economy makes on pensions, health care and benefits (2024, OECD figures, via Our World in Data). Each country decides how to fund it. Our aim is for the wealth that AI and robots create to help pay for it. The first pilot will publish the real cost.

How it feels

Start for the reward. Stay for how it feels.

Made-up examples, to show how the plan is meant to work.

Daniel, warehouse worker

The warehouse went fully automatic in spring. Daniel's monthly income arrived that month, like it always does. He had nothing to apply for and nothing to explain. For a few weeks he just rested. Then a neighbour asked if he'd help coach the kids' team on Saturdays. He said yes, partly for the extra income. Now the kids wave at him in the street, and Saturday is the best day of his week.

Amira, caring for her father

Amira cares for her father after his stroke. For years that work went unseen. Now it is a step up, and it adds to her income. At night she's learning to code, one lesson at a time. "For the first time," she says, "what I do all day counts."

Rose, retired

Rose lived alone and barely left home. A walking group two streets away was a step up, so she tried it once. Then she went again. Now she runs the Tuesday walk, and some of the walkers come to her place for tea afterwards.

Want to be there when the first pilot opens?

Add my name
Family Street Town World You
The bigger picture

The more you lift others, the more you rise.

The same steps, seen from above. Looking after yourself is a great start. Help your family, and you rise further. Help your street, your town and the world, and you rise further still. Every person you lift helps you rise.

  • You
  • Family
  • Street
  • Town
  • World

Nobody rises by pushing someone else down. Here, the way up is lifting others.

Eight areas of life

Help every area of life prosper.

That's the whole idea: help as many areas of life as you can do well, starting with your own. It's good for the people around you, and it's good for you: a healthier body, a closer family, a street where people know your name. Pick one, pick all eight, or move between them as life changes.

Self
Health, fitness, rest, growing as a person.

    Built to fit your culture, your faith and your way of life. Spirit means meaning in life: any faith, or none.

    What the evidence says

    Cash helps. It isn't the whole answer.

    We looked at the most careful trials of simply giving people money, the good results and the disappointing ones. Every number below links to where it was published.

    1Three key trials: two good results, one disappointing

    Finland · government trial · 2017 to 2018

    Work didn't fall, and people felt better

    On average, people on basic income worked 78 days in the year: 6 more than people who stayed on normal unemployment benefit. A small difference. They were also more satisfied with their lives, and felt less stress, depression, sadness and loneliness.

    People said they felt better; the study gives no number for this

    The trial: 2,000 unemployed people, picked by lottery, got €560 a month tax-free with no conditions.

    Source: VATT Institute for Economic Research / Kela, Results of the basic income experiment (6 May 2020)

    Stockton, California · city trial · first year

    More people found full-time work

    Out of every 100 people who got the money, 28 had full-time work at the start. One year later: 40. Among people who didn't get the money, it went from 32 to 37 in every 100.

    Full-time work, out of every 100 people · Feb 2019 → one year later
    Got $500 a month
    28 → 40
    Didn't get the money
    32 → 37

    The trial: 125 residents, picked by lottery, got $500 a month for 24 months with no conditions.

    Source: Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), Employment findings

    Texas & Illinois · largest US trial · 3 years

    A little less work

    Cash alone made people work a little less. Out of every 100 people, about 4 fewer (4.2) were working or looking for work, and they earned about $1,900 a year less. They felt better at first, but that boost faded after the first year.

    Also 1 to 2 fewer hours of work a week

    The trial: 1,000 people, picked by lottery, got $1,000 a month for three years. They were compared with 2,000 people who got $50 a month.

    Source: OpenResearch study, NBER (2024)

    Trials differ in country, amount and length, so their numbers can't be added together or compared one to one.

    Money brings security. It doesn't bring back a role. That gap is what Universal Elevation Income is designed to fill.

    2How Universal Elevation Income compares

    Today's benefits, basic income and Universal Elevation Income (UEI), side by side. The first two columns describe how those systems work today. Ours hasn't been tested yet, so its column shows what it is designed to do, not results. Basic income = the same cash for everyone, nothing else. Universal Elevation Income = that, plus an optional way up for helping.

    Today's benefits, basic income and Universal Elevation Income compared on nine points. The last column describes how it is designed; it has not been tested yet.
    What you getToday's benefitsBasic incomeUEI, as designed (not yet tested)
    Your base support never shrinks No. Support is reduced as earnings rise and can be paused or stopped Yes. The same payment whatever you earn Yes. Your monthly income is guaranteed for life and can never shrink
    Everyone qualifies, no forms to prove you are poor No. Eligibility is tested and often tied to job-search rules Yes. Universal, no strings Yes. Everyone gets the monthly income, doing nothing still gets you the full monthly income
    Do you keep your support when you earn more? Often no. Each extra hour of work can pay less than it should Yes. Yes, always. Your monthly income stays, and everything you earn is extra
    Gives more to people who have less? Yes. Its main strength; money goes to people in need No. Everyone gets the same, rich or poor Partly. Everyone gets the same monthly income; the extra comes from what you do
    A way up and a sense of purpose Some. Training and job-search help, but built around today's job market Partly. Money and freedom to choose, but no built-in role Yes. An optional way up across eight areas of life: self, family, community, society, nature, learning, work, spirit
    Rewards helping others No. No. Yes. The more you lift others, the more you rise
    Shame in asking for help Often felt. You must prove need to get help Low. Everyone gets it Low. Everyone gets the monthly income; the extra is something to be proud of
    Simple to run No. Many separate programmes, each with its own rules Yes. One payment to everyone, very simple Partly. Simple monthly income; the way up adds some running work
    Proven in the real world Yes. Decades of national programmes Partly. Trials, plus one yearly payment to everyone (Alaska); mixed results on work Not yet. Projected, not yet measured; a pilot will test it
    Projected, not yet measured

    What we aim for

    These are goals, not results. Nothing here has been tested yet; a first pilot will measure it.

    • Our aim: end deep poverty for everyone — an income no one can fall below.
    • Our aim: a system so rewarding that most people choose to grow — and anyone who doesn't still keeps their full base income.
    • Our aim: people who feel secure and useful.
    • Our aim: when AI does the jobs, everyone still has a reason to get up — and gets paid more for lifting others.
    • Our aim: a system that pays for itself over time, through savings elsewhere, which a pilot will test.
    Built on proven research

    What moving, sleeping, learning and helping do for people.

    Universal Elevation Income encourages exactly these things. Here is what other researchers found when people did them. These studies are about the activities, not about Universal Elevation Income.

    Walking, yoga or strength training

    Less depression

    A moderate drop for people with depression, across 218 trials with 14,170 people.

    Noetel et al. 2024

    Treating poor sleep

    Half as many new cases of depression

    In 658 adults with insomnia, treating the sleep problem halved new cases of moderate to serious depression within a year, among people with little or no depression at the start.

    Cheng et al. 2019

    Writing down what you are grateful for

    A little happier

    A small but reliable lift, across 145 papers with 24,804 people in 28 countries.

    Choi et al. 2025

    Doing kind things for others

    Happier in 6 weeks

    Among 473 adults, people asked to be kind to others for six weeks grew happier. People asked to treat themselves did not.

    Nelson et al. 2016

    Reading, puzzles or courses

    23% lower dementia risk

    Linked with, not proof of cause

    Across 38 long-term studies of over 2 million people, adults who often did mentally challenging activities had a lower risk of dementia.

    Su et al. 2022

    Volunteering after 65

    Linked with a longer life

    Linked with, not proof of cause

    Across 8 studies, older volunteers had a 24% lower risk of dying during the studies. The authors call the effect small.

    Filges et al. 2020

    Where a study followed people over time instead of testing a change, we say it is a link. All 140 studies are listed in the science.

    The future of work

    Two futures. UEI leads cash alone in both.

    By a little on most things. If AI takes most jobs, by more: less crime, less drink and drug harm, and more people with a reason to get up.

    Illustrative scenario, built from published studies

    If jobs stay as they are today

    9 of 10

    areas of life end the same as today or better, with Universal Elevation Income.

    • Crime
    • Drink and drug harm
    • Happiness
    • Mental health
    • Sense of purpose
    • Trust in others
    • Courses finished
    • Learning and memory
    • Physical health
    • Useful work

    The gains are small, less than 1 on a scale where today is 100, because only 5 in 100 adults are without a job. One area is lower: paid and unpaid work, about 3% less, the same as with cash only, because people with a secure income work about 1 to 2 hours a week less (US cash study, 2024).

    If AI takes most jobs

    70 in 100

    adults with a paid job or an active role in year 30, if half of people without a job take one up.

    We modelled a hard future on purpose: in 30 years, 6 in 10 adults have no paid job. The 70 assumes that half of adults without a job take up a role, such as caring, teaching, volunteering, or a club or team, against 20 in 100 with cash only and 15 in 100 with today's benefits. These are our assumptions. A pilot will test them.

    If AI takes most jobs: what UEI adds to the same money

    Year 30. Losing most jobs is hard on every path. This shows how much better things are with Universal Elevation Income than with the same monthly income as cash only.

    4.9 fewer

    Crimes, for every 100 today

    And 10.9 fewer than with today's benefits.

    3.6 fewer

    Cases of drink and drug harm, for every 100 today

    And 4.2 fewer than with today's benefits.

    18 more

    Adults in every 100 with a job or an active role

    And 21 more than with today's benefits.

    A little better with UEI

    • Useful work, paid and unpaid+1.8%
    • Sense of purpose+1.3
    • Courses finished+0.7%
    • Happiness+0.7
    • Trust in others+0.5
    • Mental health+0.5
    • Learning and memory+0.5
    • Physical healthabout the same

    Numbers without % are on a scale where life today is 100. On this scale, 15 is the typical gap between two people, so these gains are small. They all point the same way.

    Illustrative scenario, built from published studies. It combines those studies with our own assumptions, so it shows what could happen, not what will happen. See what these activities do for people.

    Our assumptions, and the 59 studies behind them

    The assumptions

    • This is an illustrative scenario built from published studies, plus our own assumptions. It is not a measurement of Universal Elevation Income and not a forecast. No trial of it exists yet.
    • The hard test: the share of adults without a paid job rises from 5% today to about 60% in 30 years and about 65% in 50 years. That is a scenario, not a prediction.
    • Each year, every adult has a paid job, or no job but an active role (caring, teaching, volunteering, a club or team), or neither. A role gives back part of what a lost job takes, and only when income is secure (Kamerāde & Bennett 2018).
    • People without a job who have a role: today's benefits 15%, cash only 20%, Universal Elevation Income 50% (cautious 30%, hopeful 60%). None of these shares is measured. Most of the lead of Universal Elevation Income comes from this assumption.
    • Cash only and Universal Elevation Income pay the same secure monthly income. Today's benefits miss some people who need them (OECD, Immervoll 2010).
    • The good effects of moving more, learning, quitting smoking and caring come from published trials (Singh 2023, Nishi 2024, Barrow 2014, Park 2014, Halpern 2015, Curry 2018). The middle case counts half of each, the cautious case none.
    • Crime: a role lowers the crime risk of a person without a job by 21.5%, half the drop in violent-crime arrests in a summer-jobs trial for young people (Heller 2014). Using a youth result for all adults is an assumption.
    • Money itself does not raise drink and drug harm (Evans & Popova 2017). In the scenario, that harm comes only from losing a role.
    • The scale: 100 = life today. Happiness, purpose, mental health, physical health, trust and learning are averages, where 15 on this scale is one standard deviation for one person. Crime, drink and drug harm, courses finished and useful work are rates compared with today.
    • We also compared the same money plus the same courses and services, without the rewards. Against that path the lead of Universal Elevation Income is about half as big, and in the cautious case it can disappear. Costs are not priced.

    The 59 published sources

    A number in the model is based on 21 of them, sometimes adjusted by our own assumptions (for example, halved). The other 38 give the direction of an effect or context, and set no number.

    1. Paul, K.I. & Moser, K. (2009). Unemployment impairs mental health: Meta-analyses. Journal of Vocational Behavior 74(3):264-282. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2009.01.001
    2. Dave, D., Rashad, I. & Spasojevic, J. (2006). The Effects of Retirement on Physical and Mental Health Outcomes. NBER Working Paper 12123 (published Southern Economic Journal 75(2), 2008).
    3. Hill, P.L. & Turiano, N.A. (2014). Purpose in Life as a Predictor of Mortality across Adulthood. Psychological Science 25(7):1482-1486. doi:10.1177/0956797614531799
    4. Alimujiang, A., Wiensch, A., Boss, J. et al. (2019). Association Between Life Purpose and Mortality Among US Adults Older Than 50 Years. JAMA Network Open 2(5):e194270.
    5. Jenkinson, C.E., Dickens, A.P., Jones, K. et al. (2013). Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers. BMC Public Health 13:773.
    6. Kamerāde, D. & Bennett, M.R. (2018). Rewarding Work: Cross-National Differences in Benefits, Volunteering During Unemployment, Well-Being and Mental Health. Work, Employment and Society 32(1):38-56. doi:10.1177/0950017016686030
    7. Kamerāde, D., Wang, S., Burchell, B., Balderson, S.U. & Coutts, A. (2019). A shorter working week for everyone: How much paid work is needed for mental health and well-being? Social Science & Medicine 241:112353.
    8. Evans, D.K. & Popova, A. (2017). Cash Transfers and Temptation Goods. Economic Development and Cultural Change 65(2):189-221 (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6886, 2014).
    9. Watson, B., Guettabi, M. & Reimer, M. (2020). Universal Cash and Crime. Review of Economics and Statistics 102(4):678-689. doi:10.1162/rest_a_00834
    10. Heller, S.B. (2014). Summer jobs reduce violence among disadvantaged youth. Science 346(6214):1219-1223.
    11. Henkel, D. (2011). Unemployment and substance use: a review of the literature (1990-2010). Current Drug Abuse Reviews 4(1):4-27.
    12. Rohwedder, S. & Willis, R.J. (2010). Mental Retirement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 24(1):119-138.
    13. VATT Institute for Economic Research / Kela (6 May 2020). Results of the basic income experiment: small employment effects, better perceived economic security and mental wellbeing.
    14. Finnish Government (8 Feb 2019). Preliminary results of the basic income experiment: self-perceived wellbeing improved, during the first year no effects on employment.
    15. BIEN (April 2019), reporting the Finnish Government report "The Basic Income Experiment 2017-2018 in Finland: Preliminary results"; confirmed in words by Finland's official 2020 summary (toolbox.finland.fi): "Basic income recipients also trusted other people and the institutions in society more".
    16. Vivalt, E., Rhodes, E., Bartik, A.W., Broockman, D.E., Krause, P. & Miller, S. (2024, revised Aug 2026). The Employment Effects of a Guaranteed Income: Experimental Evidence from Two U.S. States. NBER Working Paper 32719.
    17. Miller, S., Rhodes, E., Bartik, A.W., Broockman, D.E., Krause, P.K. & Vivalt, E. (2024, revised Aug 2026). Does Income Affect Health? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Guaranteed Income. NBER Working Paper 32711.
    18. Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), 2019-2021: 125 residents, $500 a month for 24 months. First-year results.
    19. Immervoll, H. (2010). Minimum-Income Benefits in OECD Countries: Policy Design, Effectiveness and Challenges. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No. 100.
    20. Haushofer, J. & Shapiro, J. (2016). The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya. Quarterly Journal of Economics 131(4):1973-2042.
    21. Mitchell, M.S., Orstad, S.L., Biswas, A. et al. (2020). Financial incentives for physical activity in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine 54(21):1259-1268. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2019-100633
    22. Charness, G. & Gneezy, U. (2009). Incentives to Exercise. Econometrica 77(3):909-931. doi:10.3982/ECTA7416
    23. Rebar, A.L., Stanton, R., Geard, D. et al. (2015). A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations. Health Psychology Review 9(3):366-378. doi:10.1080/17437199.2015.1022901
    24. Buecker, S., Simacek, T., Ingwersen, B., Terwiel, S. & Simonsmeier, B.A. (2021). Physical activity and subjective well-being in healthy individuals: a meta-analytic review. Health Psychology Review 15(4):574-592. doi:10.1080/17437199.2020.1760728
    25. Halpern, S.D., French, B., Small, D.S. et al. (2015). Randomized trial of four financial-incentive programs for smoking cessation. New England Journal of Medicine 372(22):2108-2117. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1414293
    26. Barrow, L., Richburg-Hayes, L., Rouse, C.E. & Brock, T. (2014). Paying for Performance: The Education Impacts of a Community College Scholarship Program for Low-Income Adults. Journal of Labor Economics 32(3):563-599. doi:10.1086/675229
    27. Baird, S., Ferreira, F.H.G., Özler, B. & Woolcock, M. (2014). Conditional, unconditional and everything in between: a systematic review of the effects of cash transfer programmes on schooling outcomes. Journal of Development Effectiveness 6(1):1-43 (Campbell Collaboration review).
    28. Park, D.C., Lodi-Smith, J., Drew, L. et al. (2014). The impact of sustained engagement on cognitive function in older adults: the Synapse Project. Psychological Science 25(1):103-112. doi:10.1177/0956797613499592
    29. Hui, B.P.H., Ng, J.C.K., Berzaghi, E., Cunningham-Amos, L.A. & Kogan, A. (2020). Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. Psychological Bulletin 146(12):1084-1116. doi:10.1037/bul0000298
    30. Lawton, R.N., Gramatki, I., Watt, W. & Fujiwara, D. (2021). Does Volunteering Make Us Happier, or Are Happier People More Likely to Volunteer? Journal of Happiness Studies 22(2):599-624. doi:10.1007/s10902-020-00242-8
    31. Jones, D., Molitor, D. & Reif, J. (2019). What do Workplace Wellness Programs do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study. Quarterly Journal of Economics 134(4):1747-1791 (NBER Working Paper 24229).
    32. Whillans, A.V., Dunn, E.W., Smeets, P., Bekkers, R. & Norton, M.I. (2017). Buying time promotes happiness. PNAS 114(32):8523-8527. doi:10.1073/pnas.1706541114
    33. Paul, K.I., Scholl, H., Moser, K., Zechmann, A. & Batinic, B. (2023). Employment status, psychological needs, and mental health: Meta-analytic findings concerning the latent deprivation model. Frontiers in Psychology 14:1017358. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1017358
    34. Winkelmann, L. & Winkelmann, R. (1998). Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy? Evidence from Panel Data. Economica 65(257):1-15. doi:10.1111/1468-0335.00111
    35. Shen, J. & Kogan, I. (2020). Job Loss or Income Loss: How the Detrimental Effect of Unemployment on Men's Life Satisfaction Differs by Immigration Status. Frontiers in Sociology 5:10. doi:10.3389/fsoc.2020.00010
    36. Hetschko, C., Knabe, A. & Schöb, R. (2014). Changing Identity: Retiring from Unemployment. Economic Journal 124(575):149-166 (SOEPpapers 399, 2011).
    37. Clark, A.E. (2003). Unemployment as a Social Norm: Psychological Evidence from Panel Data. Journal of Labor Economics 21(2):323-351. doi:10.1086/345560
    38. Flint, E., Shelton, N., Bartley, M. & Sacker, A. (2013). Do local unemployment rates modify the effect of individual labour market status on psychological distress? Health & Place 23:1-8. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.04.004
    39. Oesch, D. & Lipps, O. (2013). Does Unemployment Hurt Less if There is More of it Around? A Panel Analysis of Life Satisfaction in Germany and Switzerland. European Sociological Review 29(5):955-967. doi:10.1093/esr/jcs071
    40. Hajdu, T. & Hajdu, G. (2024). Does the unemployment rate moderate the well-being disadvantage of the unemployed? Within-region estimates from the European Social Survey. Kyklos 77(1):40-56. doi:10.1111/kykl.12357
    41. Westerlund, H., Kivimäki, M., Singh-Manoux, A. et al. (2009). Self-rated health before and after retirement in France (GAZEL): a cohort study. The Lancet 374(9705):1889-1896. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61570-1
    42. Westerlund, H., Vahtera, J., Ferrie, J.E. et al. (2010). Effect of retirement on major chronic conditions and fatigue: French GAZEL occupational cohort study. BMJ 341:c6149. doi:10.1136/bmj.c6149
    43. Odone, A., Gianfredi, V., Vigezzi, G.P. et al. (2021). Does retirement trigger depressive symptoms? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 30:e77. doi:10.1017/S2045796021000627
    44. Li, W., Ye, X., Zhu, D. & He, P. (2021). The Longitudinal Association Between Retirement and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology 190(10):2220-2230. doi:10.1093/aje/kwab125
    45. van der Heide, I., van Rijn, R.M., Robroek, S.J., Burdorf, A. & Proper, K.I. (2013). Is retirement good for your health? A systematic review of longitudinal studies. BMC Public Health 13:1180. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-1180
    46. Lindqvist, E., Östling, R. & Cesarini, D. (2020). Long-Run Effects of Lottery Wealth on Psychological Well-Being. Review of Economic Studies 87(6):2703-2726. doi:10.1093/restud/rdaa006
    47. Kahneman, D., Krueger, A.B., Schkade, D.A., Schwarz, N. & Stone, A.A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: the day reconstruction method. Science 306(5702):1776-1780. doi:10.1126/science.1103572
    48. Knabe, A., Rätzel, S., Schöb, R. & Weimann, J. (2010). Dissatisfied with Life but Having a Good Day: Time-use and Well-being of the Unemployed. Economic Journal 120(547):867-889 (CESifo WP 2604).
    49. Hoang, T.T.A. & Knabe, A. (2019). Time use, unemployment, and well-being: an empirical analysis using British time-use data. CESifo Working Paper 7581 (Journal of Happiness Studies 2021).
    50. Nishi, S.K., Kavanagh, M.E., Ramboanga, K. et al. (2024). Effect of digital health applications with or without gamification on physical activity and cardiometabolic risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. eClinicalMedicine.
    51. Singh, B., Olds, T., Curtis, R. et al. (2023). Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine 57:1203-1209.
    52. Pearce, M., Garcia, L., Abbas, A. et al. (2022). Association Between Physical Activity and Risk of Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry 79(6):550-559.
    53. Bull, F.C., Al-Ansari, S.S., Biddle, S. et al. (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine 54:1451-1462.
    54. Tudor-Locke, C., Han, H., Aguiar, E.J. et al. (2018). How fast is fast enough? Walking cadence (steps/min) as a practical estimate of intensity in adults: a narrative review. British Journal of Sports Medicine 52:776-788.
    55. Mazeas, A., Duclos, M., Pereira, B. & Chalabaev, A. (2022). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Gamification on Physical Activity: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal of Medical Internet Research 24(1):e26779.
    56. Curry, O.S., Rowland, L.A., Van Lissa, C.J., Zlotowitz, S., McAlaney, J. & Whitehouse, H. (2018). Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 76:320-329.
    57. Weinstein, N. & Ryan, R.M. (2010). When helping helps: autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 98(2):222-244.
    58. Choi, H., Cha, Y., McCullough, M.E., Coles, N.A. & Oishi, S. (2025). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of gratitude interventions on well-being across cultures. PNAS.
    59. Wang, F., Gao, Y., Han, Z. et al. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of 90 cohort studies of social isolation, loneliness and mortality. Nature Human Behaviour 7:1307-1319.
    Questions

    Your questions, answered honestly.

    How much will it be?

    Each country sets its own amount, and the first pilot will publish the first real one. We won't guess a number for you before then. For a sense of scale, the trials on this page paid €560 a month (Finland) and $500 a month (Stockton, California). Our aim is an income no one falls below.

    I'm retired. Is this for me too?

    Yes. Every person gets the monthly income, working or retired, and the way up is open at any age. Rose, in the stories above, is retired. Each country decides how this income fits with the pensions it pays today, and our aim is that no one ends up with less than they have now.

    Who is behind this?

    Universal Elevation Income is an independent proposal, not a political party and not a government. It is offered to any country, region or city that wants to test it. You can write to us any time with the Contact link at the bottom of this page.

    What if I don't want to do anything?

    Then you don't. You still get your full monthly income, every month, for life. No one will chase you, cut you off or ask why. The way up is there when you want it.

    Does my job count?

    Yes. Work is one of the eight areas of life, alongside caring for family, learning and helping your community. What you do for a living and what you do for free can both count.

    Does it replace my pension, benefits or tax?

    Each country decides how this income fits with the pensions, benefits and taxes it has today. Our aim is simple: no one ends up with less than they have now.

    Who pays for it?

    Someone always pays for what a country does, and we won't pretend otherwise. Each country decides how to pay for it. Our aim is for the wealth that AI and robots create to help pay for it. The first pilot will publish the real cost, because we'd rather prove it than promise it.

    Is this just basic income with a new name?

    No. Basic income gives everyone money every month, and so does Universal Elevation Income. For getting by, they are the same. The difference is what comes next. Basic income stops there. Ours adds a way up, so the good things you do for yourself and for others count and add to your income. You get the same safety, plus a reason to get up.

    Won't people just stop trying?

    Most trials found people kept working. In Finland's government trial they worked 6 more days a year. In Stockton, California, full-time work rose from 28 to 40 in every 100 people in the first year. The largest US trial found a small drop, which is why our plan adds a role, not just cash. The sources are linked in the evidence. And it doesn't depend on old jobs coming back. It's built so that when machines do the work, what you give still counts.

    Who decides what counts as a "good thing"?

    The eight areas of life set what counts: your own health, family, community, society, nature, learning, work and meaning in life. Within them, you choose what fits your life, your culture and your faith. Nobody tells you what a good life should look like.

    Is anyone watching what I do?

    No one watches you to decide your income. The monthly income never depends on anything you share, and you don't need a smartphone to get it. The way up is only for people who choose to join, and you can switch it off any time. On this website, we only keep what you type into our forms.

    Could a government turn this against me?

    Universal Elevation Income is designed so no one can switch off your income to punish you, whatever you say or believe. A web page can't bind a government, so that rule belongs in the law that starts it. We won't back a pilot without it.

    Is this real yet?

    Not yet, and we'll always be straight with you about that. We're working toward a first pilot. Add your name and you'll be among the first to hear when and where it starts.

    Why does the footer say "patent pending"?

    So no one can copy the name and quietly drop the parts that protect you, like the income no one can cut. You will never be asked to pay to get your monthly income. Governments that want to test it can talk to us directly.

    The vision

    Humans and AI, rising together.

    Picture humans and AI both working for what's best across all eight areas of life: our health, our families, our communities, our societies, nature, learning, work and the spirit.

    Then humans and AI aren't rivals. Each helps the other do well, and we rise together.

    More time with the people we love. A reason to get up. A happier world. That's the future Universal Elevation Income is here to help build.

    Security with purpose, for every human

    A future where everyone rises.

    Machines will do more and more of the work. Let's make sure every person still has money every month and a reason to get up. Add your email, and we'll tell you once, when the first trial opens.

    Not live yet. We're building toward a first pilot, and we'll tell you the moment it starts.

    One email when the first pilot opens. Nothing else, and one click to unsubscribe.

    You're in. Welcome.

    Thank you for standing up for a future where everyone rises. One more thing, if you'd like: make a one-sentence thank-you card for someone who lifted you, and send it yourself. Make a thank-you card

    Who lifted you?

    Everyone who climbs had someone who lifted them: a teacher, a coach, a neighbour, a parent. Name one person, say why in one sentence, and send it to them yourself. Nothing goes to them from here: you share the card yourself.

    Keep it to one sentence. The short ones land hardest.

    Your thank-you is ready. Send it your way.

    We keep a copy of this card only to see how many thank-yous are sent. A thank-you never changes anyone's income. We never contact anyone.

    Are you a foundation, a funder or a city that wants to help pay for the first pilot? Tell us, and we'll reply personally.

    I want to help fund the pilot

    Leave your name and email, and we'll reply personally.

    We use your email only to reply to you.

    Thank you. We'll reply personally.

    Your data, in plain words

    What we keep. If you add your name, we keep your email and, if you give it, your first name. If you write to us, we keep your name and email so we can reply.

    What we do with it. We send one email when the first pilot opens, or we reply to you personally. That's all. We never sell it and never share it.

    Who lifted you? We never email the person you thank. You send the message yourself. We keep a copy of the card (the first names and your sentence) only to see how many thank-yous are sent. A thank-you never changes anyone's income.

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