Weekend Thinking: Universal Basic Income
What if everyone, of all levels of income and circumstances, was guaranteed the same amount of income whether or not they worked for it?
Advocates of universal basic income are proposing just that. They suggest that everyone should receive the same yearly or monthly amount and either choose to work to earn more or survive on the basic income if possible.
There are many reasons this could be beneficial to society. Many argue that eventually, with jobs being increasingly taken over by technology–workers being replaced by robots–there won’t be enough work to go around.
Universal basic income could also simplify or eliminate the need for programs like employment insurance, welfare and pensions.
There are those as well who argue that universal basic income is too costly and would encourage people to be lazy rather than productive members of society.
It’s difficult to say whether more people would use universal basic income as a way to boost their existing income and maybe have more time to explore personal endeavours or use it as an excuse to sit around on their couch doing nothing. Variables such as these are why universal basic income is being tested in small-scale circumstances to spread awareness and gather information about how it would possibly work in large-scale, real-life scenarios.
As summed up by Vox, Swiss voters recently rejected the idea, voting against an amendment to “ensure the introduction of an unconditional basic income.” Though the amendment did not pass, it was still seen as a success by basic income campaigners as it spread the message about basic income to the public. Another referendum is expected to take place at some point.
Closer to home, Ontario will be conducting a basic income pilot project this fall to try and ease poverty. The experiment would mean a move towards replacing numerous government benefits with a single cheque sent to all households, regardless of income.
It’s interesting to think ahead and consider what might happen if universal basic income went forward. Some questions to think about:
- If we ever reached the point where we depended on this basic income for survival, who would we want to trust our survival with? Federal/provincial government?
- Would we still have the need for job training/education? What would it mean for the education system in general?
- Would it really encourage laziness? How would we stay productive?
There are still many questions and concerns to be addressed and undoubtedly many kinks to work out anywhere universal basic income is considered, but we’ll never know if it’s a plausible solution if we don’t give it a shot at least on a small-scale.