In the 1970s, a small Canadian town called Dauphin was chosen at random for a remarkable experiment.
The government gave every resident a guaranteed basic income — the equivalent of about $15,000 a year in today’s money — with no strings attached and no way to lose it.
What happened next was fascinating.
People spent more time with their kids. Very few quit working entirely, but many stopped accepting terrible jobs, which actually raised overall working conditions. Employers had to offer better pay and standards to attract workers.
But the most striking result? Hospitalizations for severe depression and anxiety dropped by 9% in just three years.
Johann Hari shared this story and it left me thinking: what if a simple floor of financial security could meaningfully improve mental health at a population level?
It’s one of those rare real-world experiments that makes you question a lot of assumptions about work, poverty, and human well-being.
Have you ever heard about the Dauphin experiment before? What surprised you most?