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Why UBI?

Advocates believe that guaranteed income systems oriented to certain income levels cannot overcome the deficiencies in public assistance and other benefits that a universal, unconditional cash transfer system can.

Here are reasons why some think there should be UBI programs country-wide:

If programs are exclusively targeted at low-income families and not the general community, they will deteriorate with time
Universal systems have the potential to assist everyone; but, because people’s circumstances fluctuate, it’s hard to tell who needs them based on a single number or moment in time
Means testing involves a significant amount of administrative time and money; UBI would be significantly more cost-effective

UBI’s potential negative impact on employment

Receiving a monthly fixed income might not be enough of an incentive to pursue low-paying or entry-level professions, according to ItsUpToUs.org.

Workers would view low-paying jobs differently if they received a monthly stipend that met their fundamental necessities.

If a higher tax rate is implemented to fund the expense of a UBI scheme, one would ask if there will be a significant incentive to work hard and seek growth if it means paying more taxes.

Successful business owners may prefer chances in other nations in order to avoid paying a higher tax rate.

UBI’s impact on employment, continued

Employers may be enticed to give better working conditions if they are guaranteed a decent wage.

Individuals would be considerably more likely to quit a job and seek another choice if their present company does not offer a healthy work-life balance, if the setting is too stressful, or if it is dangerous with the safety net of a UBI.

UBI’s impact on employment

A guaranteed living wage has the potential to boost entrepreneurship and professional growth, according to ItsUpToUs.org.

When people have the safety net of a monthly UBI, it’s simpler to take risks and start a new business or look for new employment.

A UBI program has the potential to promote innovation while also resulting in a more relevant employment market.

Furthermore, as the Baby Boomer generation retires, skilled labor is in short supply in manufacturing and other industries.

Individuals might benefit from a UBI while they pursue training and education opportunities to gain in-demand skills.

Political views on UBI: The Left

Because to candidate Andrew Yang, the notion of a universal basic income garnered some attention during the 2020 Democratic primary.

Yang’s Freedom Dividend would have given each adult $1,000 every month, according to ItsUpToUs.org.

Yang ran for mayor of New York City, and part of his platform included a financial assistance plan for low-income residents, which would be partially paid by tax-exempt landlords.

Since the pandemic, several Democratic lawmakers, including Tulsi Gabbard and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have indicated support for a universal basic income.

Political views on UBI: The Right, continued

Republican voters continue to oppose a universal basic income.

Only 22 percent of Republican voters support a UBI, despite 66 percent of Democratic voters supporting the notion, according to Pew Research.

However, 41 percent of Republican voters aged 18 to 34 support this concept, indicating a generational gap on the subject and the possibility of a shift in attitude as more young people become eligible to vote.

Political views on UBI: The Right

There haven’t been any Republican legislators who have embraced Universal Basic Income thus far, according to ItsUpToUs.org.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, just presented the Family Security Act. Current child benefits would be replaced with a monthly cash payout for families under this bill.

It’s not a universal basic income policy, but it demonstrates that there is a growing realization on all sides of the political divide that present welfare systems need to adapt and become more efficient.

Despite the fact that the theory has few right-wing advocates, it is not incompatible with Republican doctrine.

Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan’s economic adviser, was one of the most well-known right-wing proponents of a negative income tax.

Experimenting with UBI outside the US

Few programs and experiments have been carried out outside of the United States, according to ItsUpToUs.org.

Some such are the following:

Mongolia is the only country that has a UBI scheme in place. Citizens own shares in a business that controls a coal deposit and makes monthly payments.
During Covid-19, Spain was one of the first countries to implement a statewide UBI scheme to assist its population.
South Korea is one of the nations that will get universal basic income in 2021.
GiveDirectly is a Kenyan non-profit that delivers a universal basic income to rural areas. Donations are used to fund the program.
In 2011, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched UBI trial operations in India. Money was supplied to remote settlements that were cut off from the rest of the world.
Between 2017 and 2018, Finland experimented with universal basic income. 2,000 jobless people got a UBI instead of standard unemployment payments at this period.

Where does money for UBI programs come from?

According to ItsUpToUs.org, tax revenues would pay a universal wage in most proposals thus far.

An increase in income tax or a higher value-added tax would arise from the adoption of an unconditional basic income.

Existing programs, on the other hand, have relied on other sources of income, such as natural resource royalties.

UBI in the 20th Century, conclusion

Automatization and jobless growth, the potential of integrating economic expansion with ecologically sustainable development, and how to restructure the welfare state bureaucracy were all topics of discussion in the latter half of the twentieth century.

These and many more disputes revolved around basic income.

Papers on basic income were presented at the BIEN academic conferences from a number of viewpoints, including economics, sociology, and human rights.

UBI in the 20th Century, part three

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the major challenger to basic income and negative income tax, or its defenders, gained over enough legislators in the mid-1970s for the US Congress to establish laws on that subject.

The Basic Income European Network (BIEN), subsequently renamed Basic Income Earth Network, was created in 1986 and holds academic conferences every two years.

The green political movement, activists, and several jobless individuals were among the other supporters.

UBI in the 20th Century, continued

Despite increased productivity in British industry, C. H. Douglas, an engineer, grew worried that most British residents could not afford to consume the things created.

His answer to this conundrum was a new social system he dubbed social credit, which was a hybrid of monetary reform and basic income.

The Beveridge Committee presented a plan for a new welfare system that included social insurance, means-tested payments, and unconditional allowances for children between 1944 and 1945.

Lady Rhys-Williams, a committee member, advocated that adult earnings should be more akin to a basic income.

She was also the first to propose the concept of a negative income tax.

UBI in the 20th Century

Support for a basic income began to rise about 1920, particularly in England.

Bertrand Russell proposed a new socioeconomic model that incorporated the benefits of socialism and anarchism, with a basic income as a key component.

Dennis and Mabel Milner, a Labour Party Quaker married couple, wrote a brief booklet titled Scheme for a State Bonus in which they argued for the introduction of a weekly stipend distributed unconditionally to all inhabitants of the United Kingdom.

They believed that everyone had a moral right to food and shelter and that this right should not be conditioned on employment or desire to work.

Race, gender, and UBI, continued

While Universal Basic Income can reduce exploitation and enhance health, it cannot repair or compensate persons who identify as Black, African American, and/or Indigenous for historical and current harms.

UBI, on the other hand, can establish a stronger foundation for a world in which all people may thrive.

In order to design a UBI system that is both effective in tackling poverty and hunger and embraces justice as a core component, it is vital to include the voices and expertise of people who are facing low wages and inadequate public assistance.

Racial and gender equity improved by UBI

The economic system in the United States is based on exploiting gender, racial, and social class disparities.

It is based on wealth imbalances that oppress society’s most vulnerable.

Evidence reveals that public assistance programs like TANF give less monetary support in states with a larger percentage of Black residents.

UBI might help to reduce imbalances in a range of government support programs.

Because women historically do most of the unpaid housework and childcare, they may have more difficulty finding jobs and are more vulnerable to poverty. Women would get more autonomy and security as a result of UBI, according to Dexler.edu.

UBI improves mental health outcomes

UBI has been associated with better mental health results in Canada.

In comparison to those receiving conditional income support, income supplement recipients reported higher mental and functional health.

In a Manitoba study, people who received unconditional cash transfers had fewer hospitalizations and admissions for mental health difficulties.

The Ontario Basic Income Experiment found that those who received a basic income had better mental health and social interactions, as well as more home stability.

UBI improves quality of life, part three

In Jackson, Mississippi, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust began a trial program to provide $1,000 monthly payments to African-American moms earning modest earnings.

It was successful in boosting the number of participants who cooked three meals per day for their families, as well as the number of beneficiaries who were able to pay all of their expenses without assistance, according to Drexel.edu.

UBI improves quality of life, part two

The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), a $500-per-month basic income pilot program, showed that beneficiaries spent their money on food, energy bills, and credit card debt.

Recipients also stated that they felt less worried and spent more time with their families, according to Drexel.edu.

UBI improves quality of life

In various social determinants of health, including higher educational performance, fewer instances of psychological distress, and improved child health outcomes, UBI pilots reveal enhanced health and quality of life.

Despite the worldwide food chain disruptions induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, receivers of UBI-type payments reported fewer occurrences of hunger, disease, and sadness, according to new data from Kenya.

Guaranteed income may help families stay afloat through economic and health crises, as Kenya’s model demonstrates.

Part-time employment increases with UBI

Cash payments, say UBI opponents, discourage people from working; however, analyses of the Alaska Permanent Fund income transfer program reveal that the payments had no detrimental impact on employment.

Part-time employment actually climbed by 17 percent.

Concerns about whether or not individuals are “willing to work” are based on faulty labor perceptions, according to Drexel.edu.

Employers, on the other hand, are afraid that individuals may refuse to work for poor pay and harmful working conditions.

In order to recruit and retain employees, UBI will challenge low-paying occupations and persuade firms to pay a livable wage and provide health and family benefits.

Chicago UBI program faces delays, part three

Alderman Gilbert Villegas, a City Council member who has strongly supported the universal basic income pilot, told the outlet of his frustration in regards to the bureaucratic delay.

“I’ll just continue telling constituents that they have to hold out although we’ve got the money because we haven’t been able to get it out the door,” Villegas told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“That’s the bureaucratic way. Just to continue to talk about it and talk about it until this freaking problem goes away.”

“By the time this is finalized, the pandemic will be over with.”

Chicago UBI program faces delays, part two

No checks have gone out and “not a single application has been accepted,” the outlet noted. “The Lightfoot administration hasn’t even announced who’s eligible to apply.”

However, the Department of Family and Support Services did release two requests for proposals for agencies to “administer and execute outreach for the pilot.”

In a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said it is “working regularly with aldermen, advocates, policy experts and people who have experienced poverty to ensure the program reaches all four corners of the city” and that “specific eligibility criteria and the application process” would be announced sometime later this month.

Chicago UBI program faces delays

In October 2021, Chicago’s $16.7 billion 2022 budget put aside $31.5 million in federal pandemic relief money to start what the city’s mayor said was the nation’s largest universal basic income pilot program, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The program was supposed to send $500 monthly checks to 5,000 needy families for a one-year test period.

However, as of February 2022, the program “is stuck in bureaucratic neutral,” the outlet reported.

Stipend for students, part three

“We said, ‘Here are the numbers. What ideas do you have to address the crisis around inequality … and racialized wealth inequality, income inequality?’” Myers-Lipton said.

Myers-Lipton had not anticipated the outcome of Cortese’s September Zoom call — a pilot program to support low-income students by providing them with monthly state aid payments of $500.

The program is based on UBI plans, which have gained popularity in recent years and are utilized by municipalities and other government organizations to combat persistent poverty and economic inequality.

Stipend for students, continued

Professor Myers-Lipton discovered more than 4,000 students at the institution had experienced homelessness in the year before the survey when he co-authored the 2020 Silicon Valley Pain Index, a yearly assessment on income and racial inequality in the surrounding area, per InsideHigherEd.com

Because they couldn’t afford food, half of the students polled said they ate smaller quantities or skipped meals entirely.

Something had to be done, according to Myers-Lipton and William Armaline, a co-author of the study and head of the university’s Human Rights Institute.

They sought assistance from local, state, and federal legislators.

The researchers scheduled a meeting with Dave Cortese, a state senator from California whose district includes San José.