UBI – the impossible dream becomes a reality
The law for any great social reformer is “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”, a quote often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi (wrongly, though he had expressed similar ideas). The battle for universal basic income (UBI) – the idea that everyone should get a regular sum of money to live on from the state with no strings attached – seems like it might be entering the final stage.
The response of governments in the rich world to the Covid-19 pandemic made the idea seem plausible – as businesses were shuttered, states picked up the wage bill for workers, sent them cheques in the post, and boosted benefits for the jobless and the sick. And trials of a basic income proper – or of something resembling it – have been carried out, or are about to begin, in countries around the world.
South Korea’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-Myung, for example, was in favour of introducing one nationwide following a six-month trial he introduced while governor of Kyonggi province. (Sadly for UBI enthusiasts, Lee lost narrowly to the conservative candidate in March.) In the US, there are more than 20 trial schemes handing out direct cash payments to poor families – Bloomberg reckons they’ll have handed out at least $35m by the time they end if they run as planned. Similar experiments have been run in Canada, Brazil, Kenya, Iran, Finland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Namibia, India, South Africa, China and Japan. And the idea is washing up on these shores too: the Welsh government has committed to running a trial, and the
