‘By way of addressing security beyond the workplace, [Standing’s] most compelling suggestion is a basic citizen’s income, payable to all, which would increase the bargaining power of people at the low end, and by cutting across the orthodox benefit systems’ serial poverty traps, actually increase the incentive to work. This idea has been circulating for at least 40 years, and may take just as long to arrive in mainstream debate. But if it seems outlandish by contemporary standards, that actually only heightens its appeal: the same, after all, was once said of the most basic aspects of the welfare state; and even the weekend.’
John Harris, “A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens – review”, The Guardian, 9th April 2014.
John Harris
