With guaranteed income increasingly in the policy mainstream, and governments and foundations experimenting with cash transfers as a means for blunting the impact of Covid-19, much remains unknown about how to design such policies most effectively. Drawn from several contributors and with guidance from experts across a range of related disciplines, this series aims to envision what comes next.

The power of cash transfers is well-established. Ample research shows that unrestricted cash assistance can not only alleviate material hardship but also reduce domestic violence, generate investments in education, and improve physical and mental wellbeing. At the same time, fears of attendant declines in labor force participation or increases in spending on temptation goods have proven unfounded. We are heartened to see a growing consensus around the viability of such policies as a means to combat inequality and amplify the existing social safety net.

Of course, cash transfers can take many forms. And, as many of the governmental and philanthropic responses to Covid-19 have revealed, any cash transfer policy is only as effective as the identification and disbursement systems that underlie it. What infrastructure is needed to make a national basic income possible? How large, and frequent, should such transfers be? How will they be funded? And how can the political will be mobilized to realize them?

In order to take guaranteed income seriously as policy – and we should – advocates and program designers must begin confronting these questions. In the following papers, our experts put forward preliminary answers of their own. Each focuses on a key element of guaranteed income policy: the necessary infrastructure; the ideal benefit; the financing; and the path to political viability. Each surveys the relevant literature and ongoing implementation efforts to chart what we know and what remains to be learned – all in an attempt to provide a roadmap for policymakers committed to making a national basic income a reality.