What Do Unemployed Workers Want: Guaranteed Jobs or Guaranteed Income?

This paper studies unemployed workers’ preferences for two widely debated social policy innovations often framed as rivals: a job guarantee and a basic income. It addresses how support for the two policies compares, how policy generosity shapes that support, and which groups are most supportive. Leveraging a randomized experiment in a representative survey of unemployed workers in Austria, the analysis documents broad support for both policies: consistently higher for guaranteed jobs though a majority support both policies. Increasing generosity raises support for each policy, and crossing a pay threshold above average unemployment benefits sharply increases willingness to accept guaranteed jobs. Support and willingness to participate are strongest among disadvantaged respondents, while a small socio-economically advantaged minority opposes both policies across generosity levels. The results suggest that guaranteed jobs and guaranteed income are better understood as complementary rather than opposing strategies for strengthening the welfare state in the twenty-first century.