Basic Income and social cohesion: Exploring the effects of a BI pilot in informal settlements in Hyderabad
Diana Bashur, Vibhor Mathur · World Development Perspectives · 2026
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.