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TL;DR
A preprint based on a 2026 survey of 8,234 working-age adults in four countries found that about one in five respondents would not leave their job even for guaranteed income equal to 120% of their salary, with health cover, pension and paid leave preserved. The findings suggest that some workers value purpose, community or recognition beyond pay, but the survey does not show how people would behave in real job-loss situations or prove what AI will do to employment.
A non-peer-reviewed preprint based on a survey of 8,234 working-age adults in the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark and India found that about one in five would not quit their job even if offered guaranteed income equal to 120% of their salary, with health cover, pension and paid leave intact. The study, posted to arXiv on October 29, examines what jobs provide beyond wages as artificial intelligence raises questions about the future of work.
The paper, What is Work For? Labor, Politics, and Meaning in the Age of AI, was written by Julian Jacobs of the University of Oxford and Google DeepMind. Its central exercise asked respondents whether they would voluntarily quit if they received guaranteed income, beginning at 60% of current salary and rising in steps to 120%, while keeping specified benefits. The answers are hypothetical, not observed decisions made during an actual job offer or job loss.
Across the four-country sample, a slight majority said they would leave by the time the offer reached 80% of their salary; around three in four would leave at 100%. Among respondents who accepted an offer, the median point at which they said they would quit was 70% of salary. At 120%, about 20% still said they would stay. The paper reports that this holdout share varied little by household income: 21% among lower-income respondents, 18% among middle-income respondents and 22% among higher-income respondents.
The study also grouped workers by their stated job priorities. Among respondents the author could classify, 33% were primarily work-intrinsic, valuing matters such as purpose, learning and contribution; 23% emphasized colleagues and belonging; 17% status and recognition; and 26% pay and benefits. The paper says 73.7% put a non-monetary reason first. These categories reflect survey responses and the author’s classification method, rather than a direct measure of how people behave at work.
WHAT WORK IS FOR, ACCORDING TO WORKERS
Three in four put something other than pay first
The paper sorts workers by what they rate most important in their job. In its own figure, 73.7% of classified workers put a non-money reason first.
The work itself: purpose, learning, contributing to society.
Pay and benefits come first.
Belonging, colleagues, meeting people.
Recognition and prestige.
Pay-first share, by country
Share of classified workers whose top value is pay and benefits
Meaning is not a luxury
Share driven by the work itself (intrinsic), by household income third
Also about a third in craft and trade jobs (33%) and in services and sales (31%).
Shares of the 6,224 working respondents the paper could classify; 2,010 respondents (non-working, or no clear top value) were left out. 2,000 tied answers were assigned by a tie-break rule. Satisfied with their job: 81%.
Source: Jacobs, What is Work For?, arXiv:2610.39375v1, 29 Oct 2026 · preprint, not peer-reviewed · survey of 8,234 working-age adults in the UK, US, Denmark and India by More in Common, June–July 2026, supported by Google DeepMind.
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What Pay Cannot Measure
The findings speak to a question facing workers, employers and policymakers: if AI reduces demand for some jobs, would replacing wages with income support compensate for what people lose? The survey suggests that, for a minority, a job’s social ties, purpose or recognition may matter enough that even a generous guaranteed payment would not make leaving attractive. That is relevant to discussions of basic income and other ways to cushion disruption, but it does not establish what policy would work.
The paper reports relatively small differences between groups after statistical controls. Depending on the model, people primarily motivated by purpose sought about 1.9 to 5.8 percentage points more guaranteed income before saying they would quit than those primarily motivated by pay. The author’s example translates that range to roughly $1,100 to $3,500 per year for someone earning $60,000. Those are model-based estimates from stated preferences, not measured financial effects.
The results do not mean most people would choose work over income. At 100% of salary, roughly three in four respondents said they would leave. The more limited takeaway is that income alone may not capture every value people attach to employment, and that effects of job change could extend beyond household budgets.
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How the Survey Was Built
More in Common fielded the online survey in June and July 2026, with national quotas for age, gender, education and region. The sample included 2,032 respondents in Denmark, 2,072 in India, 2,052 in the UK and 2,078 in the US. The paper notes that the Indian online sample was younger, more urban and more highly educated than the country’s population overall, a limitation when interpreting country comparisons.
Respondents answered questions about job priorities, a guaranteed-income scenario, how they might spend time if they stopped working, perceived AI-related job threats and political attitudes. The paper uses cross-sectional regressions with controls including income, occupation, age, gender, education, part-time status and country. It was posted as version one on arXiv and has not been peer-reviewed. The paper says the survey was supported by Google DeepMind, Jacobs’s employer, and that its views do not necessarily represent the positions of Oxford or DeepMind.
The survey also asked about perceived AI risk. According to the paper, 40% of white-collar workers thought AI was at least somewhat likely to replace their job within ten years, compared with 29% of manual and service workers. This measures respondents’ expectations; it is not a forecast of actual job losses.
“A basic income “may indeed be necessary” in an AI labor shock, but “could ultimately fail to compensate workers” for what work gives beyond money.”
— Julian Jacobs, author of the preprint
Limits of the Survey Evidence
The study records what people say they would do in a hypothetical scenario. It cannot establish whether respondents would actually leave a job, how they would respond to a real guaranteed-income program, or how employment changes caused by AI will affect them. The findings also depend on the survey’s question wording, online sample and the author’s method for assigning people to work-value profiles.
The paper’s political claims are especially limited: its tables do not show statistically significant differences in populist vote intention between the work-value groups, and the author explicitly says the analysis is not causal. The preprint has not been peer-reviewed, and figures or interpretations could change in later versions. The survey’s four countries do not establish that the same patterns hold elsewhere.
Peer Review and Policy Debate
The next research milestone is whether the paper receives peer review and whether later versions revise its measures or conclusions. Further studies could compare stated intentions with people’s choices in real employment or income-support settings, and examine whether results hold across additional countries and worker groups.
For now, the preprint offers evidence about how surveyed adults describe the value of work, not a prediction that AI will eliminate jobs or that a particular income policy will replace employment’s social and personal benefits. Policymakers and employers weighing AI-related changes will need evidence on both material security and the non-wage features workers say they value.
Key Questions
What did the survey find about quitting for guaranteed income?
About three in four respondents said they would quit at an offer equal to 100% of their salary. About one in five said they would still stay at 120%, with health cover, pension and paid leave preserved.
Who took part in the survey?
The online survey included 8,234 working-age adults in Denmark, India, the UK and the US. It was fielded in June and July 2026 by More in Common.
Does the study prove AI will replace jobs?
No. It reports respondents’ perceptions of AI-related job risk and their answers to hypothetical questions. It does not measure future job losses or establish that AI will replace a particular number of jobs.
Has the paper been peer-reviewed?
No. The paper was posted to arXiv on October 29, 2026, as a version-one preprint and has not been peer-reviewed.
What does the paper say about basic income?
Jacobs argues that basic income may be necessary during an AI-related labor shock but could fail to replace non-financial benefits of work. That is the author’s interpretation of survey responses, not evidence from an evaluated basic-income program.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
