C. The Right to a Basic Income
The UK is classed as an affluent society but it has many poor citizens. Take a look at the key facts and trends relating to poverty in the UK. Who are the most vulnerable citizens in UK society? Is poverty increasing or decreasing over time? What effects does poverty have in relation to citizenship?
Basic income: What’s the big idea?
‘By universal basic income I mean an income paid by a government, at a uniform level and at regular intervals, to each adult member of society. The grant is paid, and its level is fixed, irrespective of whether the person is rich or poor, lives alone or with others, is willing to work or not. In most versions–certainly in mine–it is granted not only to citizens, but to all permanent residents.
The universal basic income is called ‘basic’ because it is something on which a person can safely count, a material foundation on which a life can firmly rest. Any other income–whether in cash or in kind, from work or savings, from the market or the state–can lawfully be added to it’, Philippe Van Parijs, 2000
The idea of a right to an unconditional, basic income has grown in popularity amongst political scientists and policy makers in recent times. At the end of the 1990s, a real cleavage emerged between universal basic income proposals that provide a regular income stream and schemes where beneficiaries receive a one-off capital stake.
A basic income promises to provide the life-long economic security that helps safeguard other democratic rights. Normative reasons supporting the fundamental right to a basic income include those listed below. Follow the links in the box below to find out more:
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If the UK Government introduced a universal basic income, what do you think the social, economic and political consequences would be in relation to citizenship?
In 2004, Brazil legalised the principle of a universal basic income for all its citizens, regardless of their social origin, income level, sex, age, religious beliefs or any other criteria distinguishing social groups. Translating this principle into practice may prove the real testing ground of the idea of a basic income!
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