Some years ago, the English humanist and lawyer Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia , describing an ideal society that contrasted with the highly unequal social conditions that prevailed in his time. The concept of a minimum income guaranteed by the government has been translated into myriad assistance schemes since then.
The vast majority are means-tested: Only the poorest qualify and benefits decline the moment their economic situation improves.
Recently, in reaction to the vertiginous increase in wealth inequality and growing fears that robots will soon replace all workers, various types of universal basic income β from schemes that provide money for every citizen to assorted guarantees of minimum income for those who need it β have come to the fore. They usually involve the government providing a guaranteed living wage to every resident, with no strings attached. Before you dismiss the concept as, well, utopian , note that business leaders such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have all suggested that, in a near future, some form of universal basic income would become either desirable or necessary.
But until such a day β which may well never come given the way societies have always adapted to disruption β we should take a closer look at what basic income, in its more scaled-back, means-tested versions, could do to reduce wealth inequality. In countries with a broad and often byzantine array of assistance programmes, would a system of recurring guaranteed payments allow people to manage their problems themselves, in a more efficient way?
The three-year project was designed to provide 4, individuals with a minimum income level through monthly payments, without conditions and regardless of their employment status. This income support was to be gradually phased out should their earned income increase. By October , Ontario had recruited participants β half of them single mothers and two thirds in low-wage jobs, with the enrolment phase ultimately completed by April Following a public consultation exercise, the experiment had the support of the majority of the population.
