Author(s):  
Malcolm Torry

This chapter summarises the main arguments for a Citizen's Basic Income. It first defines Citizen's Basic Income (sometimes called a Basic Income or a Citizen's Income) as an unconditional, automatic and nonwithdrawable regular income for each individual who is a legal resident of the UK, explaining in particular why it is unconditional, automatic and nonwithdrawable. It also gives emphasis on the fact that Citizen's Basic Incomes would be paid on an individual basis, rather than on the basis of a couple or household. Finally, it enumerates the benefits that a Citizen's Basic Income would bring, such as: promote social cohesion, reduce perverse incentives that discourage work and savings, and encourage caring and community activity. A graph shows what a Citizen's Basic Income looks like with respect to net income after tax and benefits and pre-tax income from all sources.


Author(s):  
Malcolm Torry

This chapter discusses the ways in which a Citizen's Basic Income would reduce poverty and inequality. It first considers how the word ‘poverty’ makes the measurement of the extent of poverty problematic, and suggests an alternative definition that focus on removing the barriers to social inclusion. It then explains how a Citizen's Basic Income scheme could reduce poverty at the point of implementation and how it could also help to repair social rifts and thus the deeper social structures that generate income inequality and other inequalities. It also examines the redistributional effects of a Citizen's Basic Income, and more specifically how it would change the ways in which income is redistributed. In addition to its impact on income redistribution, the chapter shows how a Citizen's Basic Income would lead to a redistribution of the ability to raise one's net income without causing too much burden on high-earning households.


Nature ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 583 (7817) ◽  
pp. 502-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Arnold
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 248 (3313-3314) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Donna Lu
Keyword(s):  

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