The Pandemic Hasn’t Made the Case for Universal Basic Income
Universal cash assistance programs have provided an indispensable financial lifeline for households and the economy as a whole during the pandemic. But contrary to many advocates of a universal basic income, the past year's experience offers no model for a left policy agenda in normal times.
There are important lessons to be drawn from the expansion of public income supports, but the urgent need for UBI is not one of them. (Unsplash)
Money is survival. Food, shelter, clothing, even a social life — for most people on the planet nearly every facet of life today means paying up. So it was heroic of Bernie Sanders to almost single-handedly keep alive the proposal for $2,000 stimulus checks for every adult while COVID-19 continues to rage. But does a $2,000 pandemic survival cheque represent a template for post-pandemic politics?
Supporters of universal basic income (UBI) think so. For many of its supporters on the Left, UBI has been vindicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments are paying workers just to stay home, often with no strings attached.
This all looks very much like a selective version of UBI, a test run. People are being paid to do nothing and the sky hasn’t fallen — or rather it has, but not for this reason. There are already important lessons to draw from the expansion of public income supports across the world. The urgent need for UBI, however, is not one of them.
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