Britain’s social security system is broken. Poverty levels and rates of insecurity are rising. Two quite distinct ideas are being promoted to help tackle these deep-rooted problems. The first is to implement a ‘basic income for all’ (BI). A modest basic income – one that paid around £10,000 a year to a family of four, no questions asked – would be feasible and affordable. It would cut poverty and inequality and reduce dependence on means –testing.
Crucially, a BI would, for the first time, introduce a guaranteed and unconditional income floor, below which no-one would fall. This would not just provide an enhanced level of income security but also promote greater freedom of choice and empowerment across society.
Despite these strengths, basic income has proved a controversial idea amongst progressives. Critics of BI are promoting a second idea, the extension of free universal basic services (UBS) aimed at raising the level of the social wage. This idea is being pitched not to go hand in hand with a much needed reform of today’s fragile social security system but as an alternative to BI.
