In the last two years an “avalanche” of support has descended upon the basic income, according to a recent article by Five Thirty Eight. The article cites either planned experiments or growing support for the idea in Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, France and even the United States.
Basic Income Earth Network’s own Guy Standing is quoted as calling the basic income an “essential” policy, especially in a world of “chronic economic insecurity,” which has propelled “extreme” politicians in both Europe and the United States.
One essential point is that the effects of the basic income are not yet fully understood. However, the Give Directly organization plans to change that with a test of the basic income in Kenya, providing 6,000 individuals with a guaranteed income for up to 15 years.
Over the years, the basic income won support from across the political spectrum, even winning Richard Nixon’s endorsement in the 60s. Currently, the United States is left with a complicated bureaucratic system of dolling out social assistance, creating welfare traps as people fear losing part of their benefits with an increase in income.
A basic income has even won over libertarians at the prospect of increased efficiency and ending the paternalism of the current system.
Negative income tax experiments in the U.S. found that there were only modest negative effects on work hours, and people used that time to go to school, for example. In Canada, data from a minimum income study in the 1970s showed those that received the minimum income were healthier both physically and mentally. Boys were more likely to go to school and young girls were less likely to give birth prior to age 25. There was also no substantial effect on working hours.
Andrew Flowers. “What would happen if we just gave people money?”. Five Thirty Eight.
