Critical Reflection
Check the attached files.
CRITICAL RELECTION
Based on material provided, you will offer your initial thoughts about the idea of providing a universal basic income. Your opinions and questions should be informed by assigned readings and other exploration of the topic and a minimum of 4 citations should be included.
(6 Pages) What is a Universal Basic Income?
Different forms but a basic premise:
Provides insurance against income insecurity for all citizens.
Most likely delivered in the form of a demogrant
A non-taxable benefit paid regularly to citizens
Examples of a demogrant are the Canada Child benefit or Old Age Security
Not a new idea
The concept of some form of income guarantee dates back to as early as the 16th century
In the late 18th and early 19th century, the idea of a basic income re-emerged and the ideas of mathematician and political activist, Antoine Carital influenced the development of Europes massive social insurance systems.
To every person rich or poor
Building on the idea of Carital, Thomas Paine proposed a basic income, insisting that payment should be made to every person, rich or poor, because it is in lieu of the natural inheritance, which, as a right, belongs to every man, over and above the property he may have created, or inherited from those who did
Utopian Socialists: mid 19th century
Charles Fouriers right to subsistence: an unconditional entitlement for the poor by way of compensation for the loss of direct access to natural resources.
Joseph Charliers territorial dividend: he proposed every citizen had an unconditional right to a quarterly (later, monthly) payment of an amount fixed annually by a representative national council.
John Stuart Mill: a certain minimum assigned for the subsistence of every member of the community, whether capable or not of labour.
20th century
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970): argued in the early 1900s for a social model that combines the advantages of socialism and anarchism. One central component a UBI sufficient for necessaries.
Dennis Milner (1892-1956): Member of the Labour Party published jointly with his wife Mabel a short pamphlet entitled Scheme for a State Bonus (1918). They argued for the introduction of an income paid unconditionally on a weekly basis to all citizens of the United Kingdom
Social credit/national divident
Clifford H (Major) Douglas (1879-1952): Proposed in 1942 the idea of a social credit. A monthly national dividend paid to all households. The social credit movement enjoyed varying fortunes. It failed to establish itself in the United Kingdom but attracted many supporters in Canada, where a Social Credit Party governed the province of Alberta from 1935 to 1971, although it rapidly dropped the idea of introducing a national dividend.
Three American approaches in the 1960s
Robert Theobald (1929-1999): with his Ad Hoc Committee on the Triple Revolution (1964) defended in various publications a vaguely specified guaranteed minimum income on grounds reminiscent of Douglas, such as the belief that automation is rendering work for pay obsolete, and that government handouts are the only way to give the public the means to buy the immense bounty produced by automatons.
Negative income tax
Milton Friedman: In his popular book Capitalism and Freedom (1962), the conservative economist proposed a radical simplification of the American Welfare State through the introduction of a negative income tax. It was offered as a simple and radical alternative to the patchwork of existing social welfare schemes.
Guaranteed minimum income
3. James Tobin (1918-2002), John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) and other liberal economists proposed in the 1960s the idea of a guaranteed minimum income that would be more generous and less dependency-creating than the existing assistance programs.
Tobins demogrant
Tobin et al published the first technical analysis of negative income tax schemes in 1967, where they came out in favor of a variant involving an automatic payment to all citizens a genuine UBI which Joseph Pechman proposed calling a demogrant. In contrast with Friedmans proposal, Tobins demogrant scheme was not meant to replace the whole system of social assistance and insurance schemes let alone to help extinguish the welfare state altogether.
Under Tobins more generous proposal, each household would be granted a basic credit at a level varying with family composition, which each family could supplement with earnings and other income taxed at a uniform rate.
In the Spring of 1968, Tobin, Galbraith and other economists (not Friedman) proposed the implementation of Tobins proposal. In a context in which dependence on the existing welfare system was increasing dramatically, the conservative Nixon administration felt pressure to move ahead. This led to the Family Assistance Plan (FAP), an ambitious social welfare program prepared by the democrat senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003).
Too bold? Not bold enough?
The FAP provided for the abolition of the aid program targeting poor families (AFDC) and incorporated a guaranteed income with financial supplements for workers which came close to a negative income tax scheme. It was publicly presented by President Nixon in August 1969, adopted in April 1970 by a large majority in the US House of Representatives, rejected by the relevant Commission of the US Senate in November 1970, and definitively rejected in 1972, despite several amendments meant to assuage the opposition, owing to a coalition between those who found it too timid and those who found it too bold.
Martin Luther King and the Poor Peoples Movement
Shortly before his assassination in 1968, King was involved in organizing the Poor Peoples Campaign march to Washington to call on the government to implement a guaranteed annual income.
The Poor Peoples Campaign continues to advocate for a fair, robust basic income for all.
A more ambitious demogrant plan was included by the Democrats in the 1972 presidential election, but dropped in August 1972. Combined with McGoverns defeat by Nixon in November 1972, the beginning of the Watergate affair in March 1973 and Nixons resignation in November 1974, the defeat of the FAP in the Senate marked the end of the short but strong appearance of UBI-type ideas in the US debate.
Charles Murray blaming the poor
In the 1980s, American Charles Murray proposed a basic income scheme that would replace the existing welfare state.
In his 1984 book,Losing Groundargued for a minimal income the elimination of all other programs designed to help the poor
Later publications revealed Murrays racist beliefs
Other Contemporary approaches
In the 1970s, Manitoba experimented with a Basic income (mincome)
In Canada, the Macdonald Commission proposed a type of guaranteed annual income in the 1980s which was rejected by progressives.
Different types of basic income have been explored in Europe.
We will explore some of these
17
What does this history tell us?
The idea of some sort of income guarantee is not new.
The ideas range from conservative efforts to dismantle the safety net to progressive models that would enhance other public services.
Our challenge in this class it to understand what a progressive basic income might look like in Canada and determine whether it is possible. Would a universal basic
income reduce poverty?
By Noah Zon
August 2016
POLICY BRIEF
1Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
POLICY BRIEF
Would a universal basic
income reduce poverty?
On basic income, we need to start with the basics
In some ways, the diverse support for basic income guarantees defies
fundamental laws of political gravity. The idea that we should simply
guarantee every person some minimum amount of money to meet their
needs has vocal supporters from across the political spectrum; it seems
to be the rare common ground for people who almost never agree on
anything. This potential for unlikely alliances is turning heads and making
universal basic income a surprisingly popular global topic. Canada is in
the heart of this emerging international conversation with the Ontario
government in the midst of developing a basic income pilot program1 and
Quebec exploring its options.2
As a policy idea, a universal basic income is not new. The idea was popular
in the 1960s and 70s, backed by figures ranging from Martin Luther
King Jr.3 to Richard Nixon.4 Canada famously ran a pilot project called
MINCOME in Manitoba in the 1970s, and there were also a handful
of other small, similar experiments in the U.S. during this period. After
a long stretch waiting in the wings, the idea of a universal basic income
has returned to centre stage. However, the shared enthusiasm can be
misleading. When you scratch the surface, you find very quickly that people
are talking about very different things with different merits.
At one end of the spectrum, some envision a transformation of our current
social safety net, replacing core components (such as social housing) by
giving people cash transfers instead.5 At the other end of the spectrum,
1 Benzie, Robert. Wynne touts basic-income pilot project to help poor. 17 March 2016. Toronto Star.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/17/wynne-touts-basic-income-pilot-project-to-help-poor.html
2 Couillard, Philippe. Allocution du premier ministre du Qubec, Philippe Couillard, loccasion de la crmonie
de prestation de serment de membres du Conseil des ministers. 28 January 2016. Government of Quebec. http://
www.premier-ministre.gouv.qc.ca/actualites/allocutions/details.asp?idAllocutions=906
3 Caffin, Brenton and Johar, Indy. Basic income: a solution to which challenge? 6 May 2016. Nesta.
http://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/basic-income-solution-which-challenge
4 Dwyer, Paula. A Basic Income Should be the Next Big Thing. 2 May 2016. Bloomberg View.
http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-05-02/a-basic-income-should-be-the-next-big-thing
5 A Libertarian Case for Basic Income (radio segment). 20 March 2016. The 180 with Jim Brown on CBC
Radio. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/a-sovereigntist-defends-english-a-case-for-guaranteed-minimum-income-
and-more-alberta-road-trip-1.3496597/a-libertarian-case-for-a-guaranteed-minimum-income-1.3496657
2Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
some are positioning basic income as an opportunity to significantly
augment the current safety net with new investment.6 So before we can talk
about whether basic income is the right solution, we need to start with the
basics what exactly are we are talking about?
Thats a conversation worth having. There are some powerful goals behind
the case for basic income including:
Guaranteeing a minimum income that allows people to
maintain a decent standard of living regardless of their
circumstances;7
Strengthening our social safety net by addressing its gaps
and weaknesses; and
Making sure that as our economy changes and creates
new opportunities, those who are displaced do not get left
behind.
These goals are important, but they are not unique to basic income.
We have a number of policies and programs in place at all levels of
government today that are designed to ensure a decent standard of living
and opportunity for all including guaranteed incomes for children and for
seniors. Some make important contributions in bringing us closer to those
goals, others underperform.
This policy brief looks to make sense of the competing visions of basic
income, what proposed solutions are on the table, how much they would
cost and how those proposals differ from what we have today. To look at
the merits of universal basic income, we need to clarify which problems
we are trying to solve, and ask not only whether a universal basic income
would bring us closer to these goals, but whether it would be the best way
to get there.
6 Hughes, Chris. The Case for Cash for All. 17 May 2016. Medium. https://medium.com/@chrishughes/the-
case-for-cash-for-all-612db8ab7e94#.sspidi8j1
7 See the work of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on Minimum Income Standards. https://www.jrf.org.uk/
income-benefits/minimum-income-standards
3Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
What is basic income, anyway?
It depends who you ask. Basic income is an idea that has many names
(including universal basic income, basic income guarantee, guaranteed
annual income or guaranteed minimum income) and many definitions. The
common theme of each of these definitions involves having the government
transfer money to individuals or households without strings attached about
how it is used or how people spend their time. The basic idea is that rather
than the current suite of sometimes complex programs with different rules
to get support if you need it (e.g., social assistance, subsidized housing,
rebates for energy costs), the government would simply provide regular
cash transfers to people, letting them direct that money towards their
needs. Beyond that general idea, there are some fundamental differences
between different proposals for a basic income.8
The simplest version of the idea is to give unconditional cash transfers
to every person (or at least, every adult) in the province or country.
Every person would receive the same amount regardless of their income,
employment status, or need. This could be as simple as $10,000 in the
hands of every Canadian. While this is a very simplistic approach, this
universal idea is the most commonly raised in popular discussions, and is
being floated by a range of proponents.9 The amount of this benefit varies
between proposals but is usually fairly modest sometimes set at the
poverty line, often well below.
For example, in the state of Alaska, residents get an annual dividend
payment from their states oil and gas revenues, generally in the range
of C$1,000-2,000 per person.10 The Finnish government is currently
considering a pilot that would provide 550 per month (about C$810) to
working age adults at first, increasing to 800 per month (about C$1,180)
to replace many social services. 11 To put that in perspective, that would
bring a person without any additional income up to about 80 per cent of
the Finnish poverty line.
8 Flowers, Andrew. What Would Happen If We Just Gave People Money? 25 April 2016. FiveThirtyEight.
9 See for example: Andressen, Erin. To end poverty, give everyone in Canada $20,000 a year. But are you willing
to trust the poor? 19 November 2010. The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/
to-end-poverty-guarantee-everyone-in-canada-20000-a-year-but-are-you-willing-to-trust-the-poor/article560885/;
Painter, Anthony. In Support of a Universal Basic Income Introducing the RSA Basic Income Model. 16
December 2015. The RSA. https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/rsa-blogs/2015/12/in-sup-
port-of-a-universal-basic-income–introducing-the-rsa-basic-income-model
10 McFarland, Allen. Alaska residents are paid a unique yearly dividend from the states permanent fund. 1 May
2015. Energy Information Administration. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=21052
11 Bershidsky, Leonid. Finns May Get Paid For Being Finns. 3 November 2015. Bloomberg View.
http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-11-03/finns-may-get-paid-for-being-finns
4Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
The other main type of basic income the one that was the subject of a few
experiments in the 1960s and 1970s is intended to top up a persons
income.12 This is sometimes called a negative income tax, and works like
refundable tax credits such as the GST/HST credit, where people with very
low income can essentially receive a tax refund higher than the taxes they
owe, leaving them overall with a boost to their incomes. Under this kind of
basic income, as other income grows, the basic income guarantee is phased
out until the top-up reaches zero, and people start to pay taxes on their
income.
As basic income guarantees capture the publics and policymakers
attention, the distinction between these approaches has remained blurry.
So have some important questions such as whether these guarantees would
cover the needs of seniors and children as well as adults, and even whether
a basic income is intended to replace or complement existing programs.
To have a productive conversation about which (if any) version of basic
income offers promise, we need to be clear about what is being proposed.
12 Segal, Hugh. Scrapping Welfare: The case for guaranteeing all Canadians an income above the poverty line.
December 2012. Literary Review of Canada. http://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2012/12/scrapping-welfare/
5Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
How do basic income proposals differ from what we
have today?
Many proposals around basic income treat it as something unfamiliar.
For example, Voxs Ezra Klein called it the kind of radical policy that
asks whether we actually need to live in this world, or whether there are
better worlds on offer.13 This isnt true. We have a long experience with
guaranteed incomes or very similar policies all over the world, and in
particular here in Canada.14
In Canada today we have two sets of programs that look quite a bit like
guaranteed incomes for those who we expect to be outside the workforce
seniors and children.
The Old Age Security (OAS) program for seniors has been around in
basically the same form for nearly a century, providing a guaranteed
income to seniors regardless of their work history. The OAS currently
provides $6,880 per year for those receiving the maximum amount.
If you dont have much income from other sources like pensions (Canada
Pension Plan [CPP] or private), work or investments, then you can get more
from the federal government (the Guaranteed Income Supplement [GIS],
currently worth up to $10,277 per year) and from provinces. In Ontario,
13 Klein, Ezra. A universal basic income only makes sense if Americans change how they think about work. 1
June 2016. Vox. http://www.vox.com/2016/6/1/11827024/universal-basic-income
14 Battle, Ken. Guaranteed income or Guaranteed Incomes? September 2015. Caledon Institute of Social Policy.
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/1078ENG.pdf
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6Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
this combines for a guaranteed annual income of about $18,200 for single
seniors and about $14,100 per person for couples.15 These programs have
both residency requirements and clawbacks on support as other income
increases, but this looks pretty close to the archetype of a basic income
guarantee, combining the universal grant with an income top-up system for
those with very low incomes.
Canada also provides guaranteed incomes in the form of child benefits.
Like Old Age Security, these benefits go back nearly a century to mothers
allowances.16 For the last decade, our basic income guarantee for children
included a combination of a universal grant with a top-up for those with
low incomes. The Universal Child Care Benefit provided $1,200 per year
for each child in Canada under age six, and the National Child Benefit
Supplement (along with provincial child benefits) provided targeted top-
ups for low-income families. The largest program was the income-tested
basic Child Tax Benefit, which served 9 in 10 families. As of July 2016, we
have shifted to a different design of a basic income guarantee with the new
Canada Child Benefit, which rolls different benefits and credits together
into a single, larger basic income guarantee that delivers its largest benefit
to lower-income families and phases out gradually as income increases.
15 Government of Ontario. Guaranteed Annual Income System benefit rates. Update July 1, 2016. https://www.
ontario.ca/data/guaranteed-annual-income-system-benefit-rates?_ga=1.261991181.1480671194.1463682162
16 Battle, Ken. Child Benefits in Canada: Politics versus Policy. June 2015. Renewing Canadas Social Architec-
ture. http://social-architecture.ca/wp-content/uploads/ChildBenefitsInCanada.pdf
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7Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
The new Canada Child Benefit guarantees a minimum income for all but
wealthy families with children though that minimum depends on the size
of the family and age of the children. For a family with two children under
6 in Ontario, they are guaranteed a minimum income of at least $15,512
(when combined with the Ontario Child Benefit). The new program is
designed so that families will not end up worse off by losing benefits as they
earn other income, which reduces the risk of perverse welfare wall effects
that can end up punishing people for taking steps to improve their lives
(like working more).
We also see the idea of a guaranteed minimum income in the tax system,
though in a smaller way. One way that this concept is applied is through
the basic personal amount the idea that a certain amount of income
should not be taxable because we should not take away from a minimum
level of income needed to purchase necessities. In 2015, that amount
shielded from tax was $11,327 federally and $9,863 in Ontario provincial
income tax. Thats worth a combined $2,200 annually in tax saved for any
Ontarian with at least that much income.
This is a basic income structured as a non-refundable tax credit meaning
you can only use it to deduct from taxes owing. Ironically, for a guaranteed
minimum income policy, this means that someone with no taxable income
gets no financial support from the basic personal amount, and the highest-
earning Canadians get the full value. We invest quite a bit today in this
poorly targeted basic income; the estimated cost of the basic personal
amount was $33.8 billion federally in 2015, with additional costs to each
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2 children over 6
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Guaranteed annual incomes for families with children
(Canada Child Benefit plus Ontario Child Benefit)
8Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
province ($4.3 billion in Ontario).17
In addition to these basic incomes, we have a whole suite of income support
and income security programs that are meant to guarantee minimum levels
of income but are conditional in different ways that generally dont meet
definitions of guaranteed annual incomes. For example, social assistance
programs provide a basic level of support for people who dont have other
sources of income or resources. Employment Insurance and disability
insurance programs such as Ontarios Workplace Safety Insurance Board
and CPP-Disability provide income replacement for people who contribute
to the program over their careers if they lose their jobs or are unable to
work because of disability. The Working Income Tax Benefit acts to top up
peoples income, but only for people who work.
Some parts of this suite of basic income guarantees work relatively well,
and some fall disappointingly short. Old Age Security and the Guaranteed
Income Supplement have played a critical role in reducing poverty for
seniors.18 The Canada Child Benefit is projected to move hundreds of
thousands of children out of poverty in its first year.19 However when you
look at our income security system as a whole, we clearly have room for
improvement. People with severe disabilities can get vastly different levels
of support depending on how and when they acquired their disabilities.
Social assistance provides support far below what it takes to afford
necessities, and subjects people in need to a web of requirements that often
prevent them from making lasting moves out of poverty, and doesnt treat
recipients with dignity. The question is whether we would be better off
replacing most or all of these different programs with a new universal basic
income, or if it would be better to reform and add to the existing system so
that they work together to meet minimum income standards.
17 Figures from Department of Finance Canada. Report on Federal Tax Expenditures Concepts, Estimates
and Evaluations 2016. March 2016. https://www.fin.gc.ca/taxexp-depfisc/2016/taxexp1604-eng.asp#Cred-
it-for-the-Basic-Personal-Amount; and Ontario Ministry of Finance. Transparency in Taxation, 2015. 26
November 2015. http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/fallstatement/2015/transparency.html
18 Conference Board of Canada. Elderly Poverty. How Canada Performs. http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/
details/society/elderly-poverty.aspx
19 Monsebraaten, Laurie. Child benefit to pull record number of kids out of poverty, Minister says. 15 June
2016. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/06/15/child-benefit-to-pull-record-number-of-kids-
out-of-poverty-minister-says.html
9Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
What problem are we trying to solve?
In debates around new basic income proposals, its not only often unclear
just what is being proposed, there is also a lack of consensus about exactly
what problem we are trying to solve. Leaving aside those motivated by
any opportunity to shrink the size of government and replace it with
the market, people have raised basic income as a response to a range
of different problems. As Samuel Hammond argues in Foreign Policy,
some of those rationales are contradictory on their face.20 Its worth
understanding each of these concerns to understand whether a basic income
is the best way to respond to them.
Problem: Too many people cannot maintain a
decent standard of living
One of the main arguments for basic income is to respond to the
problem of people not having enough money to meet their needs
in other words, addressing poverty. But the shortfall that people face
in having enough to make ends meet looks different depending on
who we are talking about. For people who are working and facing
stagnating wages that leave them struggling to make ends meet, a
modest amount of support to augment their incomes might bridge
that gap.21 For people who rely on inadequate income support
systems, it would take a much more significant boost to meet this
goal.22 Social assistance programs typically leave people well short of
the poverty line.23
Basic income could theoretically send people enough money to bring
them out of poverty.24 The question is whether a single universal
program is the best way to do that. If basic income were to come at
the expense of existing programs, this problem could be worse for
many low-income people.
20 Hammond, Samuel. When the Welfare State met the Flat Tax. 16 June 2016. Foreign Policy. http://foreignpoli-
cy.com/2016/06/16/when-the-welfare-state-met-the-flat-tax/
21 Hughes, 2016.
22 Sas, Jonathan. Progressives and the Guaranteed Income Debate. 14 March 2016. The Broadbent Blog. (Broad-
bent Institute). http://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/jonathansas/progressives_guaranteed_income_debate
23 Tiessen, Kaylie. Ontarios Social Assistance Poverty Gap. 9 May 2016. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/ontarios-social-assistance-poverty-gap
24 Stern, Andy. Moving towards a universal basic income. 12 April 2016. Jobs and Development Blog. World
Bank http://blogs.worldbank.org/jobs/moving-towards-universal-basic-income
10Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
Problem: The social safety net is tangled and
filled with holes
For some, the problem to be solved by universal basic income
policies is that our social safety net is riddled with complications
that allow some people to slip through while trapping others in
poverty with welfare wall effects.25 Our approach to social policy
reflects a collection of clumsy but temporarily effective responses
to problems as they arise, each justifiable in their own context, but
taken together, combine for the kind of gerry-rigged, opaque and
complicated approach that Steven Teles calls a kludgeocracy.26
Basic income is a chance to replace the red tape27 and stigma28 with
a simpler approach that can support people in a way that respects
their dignity and agency. The related libertarian version of this
problem is that our current system sees government play too large a
role in the economy and peoples lives, and that we would be better
off giving that money directly to individuals to meet their needs
in the market, saving money on administration of programs in the
process, money that could be redirected to people in need.29
Replacing a patchwork of responses to particular needs with a
universal income approach would also respond to the gaps that have
emerged as our safety net has failed to keep pace with economic and
social transformations.30
25 Torjman, Sherri and Battle, Ken. Breaking Down the Welfare Wall. July 1993. Caledon Institute of Social
Policy. http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/488ENG.pdf
26 Teles, Steven. Kludgeocracy: The American Way of Policy. 10 December 2012. New America Foundation.
https://www.newamerica.org/economic-growth/policy-papers/kludgeocracy-the-american-way-of-policy/
27 Zon, Noah. Less red tape for business, why not people? June 2016. Maytree. http://maytree.com/poli-
cy-and-insights/opinion/less-red-tape-for-business-why-not-people.html
28 Calnitsky, David. Basic income: social assistance without the stigma. 30 May 2016. Toronto Star. https://www.
thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/05/30/basic-income-social-assistance-without-the-stigma.html
29 Zwolinsky, Matt. The Pragmatic Libertarian Case for a Basic Income Guarantee. 4 August 2014. Cato Un-
bound. http://www.cato-unbound.org/2014/08/04/matt-zwolinski/pragmatic-libertarian-case-basic-income-guar-
antee
30 Granofsky, Thomas, Corak, Miles, Johal, Sunil and Zon, Noah. Renewing Canadas Social Architecture. May
2015. Mowat Centre. http://social-architecture.ca/
11Policy brief: Would a universal basic income reduce poverty?
Rather than creating a set of targeted programs, the flexibility of
an all-purpose universal basic income would allow it to respond to
challenges like the financial burden of unpaid caregiving31 or the
high costs of child care32 that more and more families need to rely
on.
The overall approach of a basic income could definitely improve on
the complicated set of programs we have today. However, not all of
the problems that we try to address through the social safety net can
be easily addressed by
