Income Maintenance Experiments: Need To Summarize Results and Communicate the Lessons Learned

To overcome the expressed fears of congressional opponents and others that many able-bodied persons would quit, reduce, or not work in order to take full advantage of the universal guaranteed income plan, the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) decided to experiment. OEO conducted a New Jersey experiment and later a rural experiment. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) undertook two other experiments. GAO reviewed various aspects of the four income maintenance experiments and focused on: (1) the need for the experiments; (2) the general design adequacy; (3) the planning, management, and results dissemination; (4) the timeliness and completeness in disclosing family dissolution results; (5) the soundness of major results; (6) the influence on policy and existing programs; and (7) the need for further experimentation. GAO reviewed the available literature and interviewed former and current OEO and HHS officials as well as economists and sociologists directly knowledgeable about the experiments and the use of their results. GAO did not review the specific experiment methodologies, the technical validity of each finding, or all possible experiment aspects and ramifications. The four experiments cost about $110 million in benefit payments and administrative, data collection, and research costs. Over half of the participating families had guaranteed incomes and were not required to work or given special job opportunities. For those who worked, the income guarantee was reduced by some percentage of their earnings.