Unconditional Basic Income: What People Do With Money That Falls From the Sky

What is unconditional basic income?

Universal basic income ( UBI) is an amount of kuwait mobile phone numbers database money that is paid to people regardless of their income or employment status. This amount is usually paid by the state, but in some cases it can also be paid by a private fund. An UBI has 4 features:

• Monetary form. Unlike other types of social payments, people have the right to decide for themselves when and on what they will spend the money they receive.
• Universality. The unconditional basic income is paid to everyone, without exception. It doesn’t matter how much you earn or whether you work at all – this peculiarity distinguishes BDP from other unemployment benefits.
• Regularity. The unconditional basic income is paid regularly, not as a lump sum – most often, it is paid monthly.
• Individual character. The unconditional basic income is intended for each specific person, not for households or families.

Like any concept, unconditional basic income has its supporters and opponents.

Let’s try to understand all the pros and cons.

For:

• BDP is one of the most effective ways to combat poverty. The state pays money to its citizens to provide them with a basic income at the minimum wage level.
• BDP reduces crime. Most people will not risk breaking the law if they have basic living conditions.
• Increased attendance at schools and colleges. Teenagers (especially in the United States) no longer have to drop out of school to help their parents earn a living.
• Increasing overall happiness levels.
• In the future, BDP may become one of the ways to combat unemployment arising from the automation of production. For example, the state may offer cashiers who lose their jobs due to the emergence of self-service checkouts an unconditional basic income.

• This will help avoid a sharp increase in the poverty level.

Against:

• Large expenditures on google partner premier the part of the state. According to data from The Economist, the introduction of an unconditional income will With Money cost some countries (Liberia, for example) an amount equivalent to double their GDP. The journalists calculated what would happen if states cut all social benefits, leaving only an unconditional basic income. Mexico will be able to pay its citizens $75 per month, and Denmark – $900. For both countries, this is not enough to cover the minimum cost of living.
• Dependence of citizens on the state. If the state at some point decides to reduce spending related to the BDP program, it will cause a sudden increase in poverty, because the well-being of citizens depends only on the state, which, by the way, may encounter a financial crisis, war or catastrophe.
• A sharp decline in the economy’s productivity.

• If the majority of the country’s citizens quit their jobs, this will be inevitable.

• Uncontrolled inflation. People will hong kong phone number start spending more, which will cause inflation to rise. This process almost always requires additional state resources, and not every country will be ready to cope with this kind of side effect.
• Demoralization. Some critics of the UBI idea fear its social consequences, especially when it comes to less developed societies. What will people do when they do not have to go to work?

In discussions about the effects of an unconditional basic income, timing is a sticking point. Some 130 countries have already introduced BBI payments as an experiment, but only for a few years. Critics say the true effects of such payments will only be seen in the long term.

#1. United States,With Money Alaska

Experiment duration: 1982 to present
Number of participants: 737 thousand people
BDP amount: 1-2 thousand dollars per year

In the 1970s, oil deposits were discovered in Alaska. When the black gold began to be extracted, the authorities realized that Americans would not be able to enjoy the profits from its sale for long. To avoid this, a special fund was created – the Alaska Permanent Fund, in which funds from the sale of oil were collected and then distributed to the state’s residents as compensation. This system was introduced because it was difficult to predict how long the reserves of black gold would last. So, in 1982, Alaskans began receiving an unconditional basic income.

The amount of the payout depends on the price of oil — the higher the revenue, the more money will go to the fund and ultimately to state residents. In 2021, the BDP was $992, as the price of oil fell dramatically in 2020. Before the pandemic, the average payout was $1,500, and in 2015, it was as high as $2,000.

The BDP in Alaska is paid once a year. While the amount of this payment is not at all high (especially for the United States), some things in Alaska have changed.