Universal Basic Income
What is a Universal Basic Income (UBI)?
A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a government investment in its society and citizens. Through the presence of a UBI, everyone (usually over the age of 18) gets a set amount of money meant to cover basic costs of living.
This money is completely conditional and consistent. Everyone gets the same much, no matter your circumstances.
In general, a UBI tries to guarantee a living wage to all citizens, taking less pressure off of people who were in poverty and aims to increase the quality of life for everyone.
This income covers things like the cost of housing, food, basic clothes, etc. that people need in order to survive and thrive in society.
So what are the logistics of a UBI? Sounds pretty great, right? But could it be too good to be true?
Let’s take a look into some research that has been conducted on UBIs and what makes it so beneficial for society.
GiveDirectly Research Project
GiveDirectly is currently running the largest UBI experiment that has ever been conducted.
In this study, over 20,000 people in Kenya will be a part of an experiment meant to study the societal and economic effects of a Universal Basic Income.
It is meant to span over the course of 12 years for one of the groups, 2 years for another, and one experimental group will receive the cash in a lump sum.
Each adult is given the equivalence of $.75 per day (which seems EXTREMELY low by United States standards) but will cover what is deemed to be the bare minimum necessities for individuals in these villages.
This experiment just stated, so there isn’t a ton of data on the impacts yet. But there have been similar, smaller scale experiments conducted that have shown amazing effects that we will talk about later.
This is just one of the biggest experiments occurring right now, so I feel it is important to mention it.
What Are the Benefits of a UBI?
Eliminating Poverty
With a UBI, EVERYONE gets enough to cover their basic needs without pressure and struggles of trying to climb up the social and economic latter from the bottom.
By giving everyone enough money to live, you are closing the gap between the people in extreme poverty and those with extreme wealth.
Ultimately, this lessens the poverty rate and increases the size of the middle class.
With an increased middle class, there is a decrease in stress throughout society that poverty puts on society as a whole.
Encourages Personal Growth
It’s nearly impossible to think about pursing passions and dreams when you are worried about how you will eat your next meal, or where you will sleep that night.
Extreme poverty puts restrictions on people from being able to get jobs, have time for a social life, or engage in activities and hobbies that they enjoy.
In a world run by capitalism, people tend to put value on overworking yourself and “hustlin” to go from the bottom to the top.
By providing people with their basic needs, they have a foundation that they can grow on.
Suddenly people are able to explore things that may not be as monetarily favorable (like theater, the arts, traveling, self exploration, etc.).
And an increase in these aspects of a society improve the society as a whole.
Related: The Toxic Effects of Grind and Hustle Culture
Gives Support to Unpaid Caregivers
With a UBI, people would no longer be forced to choose between caring for their loved ones, and having to struggle to make ends meet without a job.
Parents would be able to take time off of work in order to raise their kids (if that’s what they wanted to do). This comes without the pressure of needing to cut that time short to make money to feed their family.
If someone needs to take care of a sick or elderly family member, they have the monetary means to take care of them full time rather than needing to worry about work as well.
It allows our society to look after one another.
UBI and the Pandemic
Let’s take a second to think about how different the pandemic would have been if we had a UBI.
Millions of people (myself included) had to file for unemployment. Something that would not be necessary with a UBI.
Individuals would have been able to quarantine safely without risking their lives to go back to non-essential jobs (or wondering how they are going to make ends meet if they lost that non-essential job).
Not to mention, the tons of people who lost their jobs who didn’t qualify for unemployment.
A Universal Basic Income would have provided the economy the support it needed without putting people’s lives at more risk.
A stable income during times like this would allow for some stability and security while almost everything else can feel out of control.
Examples of Successful UBIs
The Madhya Pradesh UBI Research Project
This research project lasted from 2011-2013 and included 6,000 in Pradesh, India. This UBI experiment was backed by UNICEF and set out to explore the economic and societal impacts of giving every adult a living wage.
The results showed that people used the money to invest in other income generating opportunities that would make them even more money.
They found that giving people enough to live off of provided children the opportunity to further their education and attend school, when they hadn’t been able to before.
The Finnish Government UBI Experiment
I don’t know about you, but before I really knew was a UBI was, this is the example I had heard of.
The Finnish government ran a test of giving its citizens a Universal Basic Income and found that it did not decrease the rates of employment. Even when people were receiving a living wage, they still chose to work on top of that.
The biggest difference, however, was in their reported quality of life.
People who were receiving the universal basic income reported decreased stress and anxiety compared to the control group.
So for those that say a UBI would demotivate people to work, the data supporting that idea just isn’t there. In fact, in both of these experiments, people used that money to generate even more money for themselves.
