An Overview of Universal Basic Income: Discussion on the Benefits of a Single System Welfare Standard

Indianapolis, IN

In the past two decades there has been renewed interest in the proposition of a Universal Basic Income. A UBI is a system of direct monetary payments from government coffers to all citizens of a state or locality with the purpose of providing a sum for essential livelihood. In contrast to most current social welfare programs, the UBI requires no means test for the citizen to become a recipient. This idea has attracted attention for the radical simplicity of its design and implementation. Beginning with a discussion of the principles of the UBI, the paper then analyzes how Basic Income compares with other programs of a similar nature. Discussion then moves to a brief review of case studies of UBI and the positive social and economic outcomes observed in those experiments. Theoretical benefits including public and private efficiency gains, reduced governmental administrative costs, and increased labor market mobility are explained along with an assertion on the morality of welfare as it relates to egalitarian ideals. Finally, simple calculations are included to facilitate an examination on the viability of a UBI in the United States. This paper seeks to provide a general understanding of the Universal Basic Income concept to a wide range of audiences and argue for the myriad of significant benefits it could afford in place of current systems of welfare provisioning.