Jump to comment:
- Page navigation anchor for What is needed for universal basic income?What is needed for universal basic income?
We read with great interest Blake’s1 compelling case for universal basic income (UBI) to decrease the trauma-inducing nature of the current socio-economic system. As Euan Lawson correctly points out,2 the very concept of UBI - regular payments to all citizens regardless of circumstance - is not new. Around the world, numerous local experiments show benefits in health and socio-economic outcomes.3 In rural Kenya, a large-scale UBI experiment during the COVID-19 pandemic improved food security, well-being, and rates of illness.4 In Canada, a 4-year experiment which ran until 1979 saw an 8.5% decline in hospitalisations and a reduction in GP visits.5 Other UBI experiments are equally promising.
However, Blake stops short of acknowledging the conditions required to implement UBI including political will, public demand, and the ability to supply UBI.6 The latter, an understandably pragmatic objection, is a key factor mediating public and political will. Proponents suggest UBI could be generated through taxation of income, corporations or wealth, or the abolishment of tax reliefs. UBI could replace alternative welfare systems, and potentially save money overall through improvements in health and wellbeing.7
Under a meritocratic socio-economic system, the concept of UBI may have also found more public acceptance through the furlough scheme,...
Competing Interests: DPG is an in-practice fellow supported by the Department of Health and Social Care and the National Institute for Health Research. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.