“Universal basic income usually covers people’s basic needs but we want to see what effect this unconditional lump sum has on people’s mental and physical health, whether they choose to work or not,” says Will Stronge, the director of research at the thinktank Autonomy, which is backing the plan.
For this particular test, I suspect there are positives to mental health that are easier to justify as “it’s unconditional”, like avocado toast, video games, painting supplies, etc. Specific things for free makes more sense for things that literally everyone needs.