John Harris’s article “Money for nothing” (G2, 14 April) is a welcome change from the screeds we read on corruption and excessive payouts. The idea of a social wage or universal basic income (UBI) has been around for some time, as he points out. Now it seems to be moving from utopian ideal to the realm of politics and practical life. This surely is to be wished for by all concerned in questions of social justice. A central belief of contemporary capitalism is that the labour of the worker is a commodity like any other in search of a buyer. In various ways the law alleviates this (eg the minimum wage) but does not change the basic thinking. Now there is the possibility that the livelihood of every member of society, independent of work availability and wage levels, is recognised and assured. Let us hope the idea is explored publicly and allowed to fructify.
John Thomson
Forest Row, East Sussex
• The most shocking statement in John Harris’s piece was that only six [now seven] Labour MPs signed up to Caroline Lucas’s early-day motion on universal basic income. Do the other 222 think Labour stands for unremitting toil and inexorably growing inequality? Even the SDP considered backing a citizen’s income back in the 1980s. Equality and the Ownership Question (Tawney Society Paper no 34, 1986) addressed the issue of how the population at large could share in national wealth in a time of growing differentials between an inordinately overpaid elite and an insecure underpaid serfdom.
Ideas floated in the 80s included variants on a social dividend, whereby publicly listed companies would be required to issue a percentage of new shares each year (a process known as equity dilution) to be lodged in a citizen’s trust that would provide all citizens with a growing dividend on the profits of the whole economy, thus converting monopoly capital into equitable income. Its dividend issues might start modestly with each new cohort reaching the age of 18 and expand upwards, allowing other parts of social welfare to be focused on groups who would never benefit.
Such a scheme would put a brake on the accumulation of unearned wealth, and be safe from the whims of chancellors. Of course, a government in a hurry might decide to prime the equality pump by first freezing, then top-slicing, the billions in assets hidden away in tax havens under British jurisdiction.
Richard Gravil
Penrith, Cumbria
• Thanks for a great article on UBI. The next step is to integrate this with a shift towards expenditure taxation, so the basic income acts as a tax allowance, a sort of “tax cashback”, which gives the expenditure tax a progressive nature and also is harder for the multinationals and the rich to avoid.
Dr Jon Mulberg
Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Is this idea exclusive to Britain? What about eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and practically everywhere east of Suez? If we all have a standard UBI, what do we suppose that income might buy? If Harris were my age, he might remember that, as computerisation moved into the workplace, the talk then was of work-share, and further education was considered necessary for the future. As we have increased the numbers at university, the numbers of graduate baristas has risen disproportionately.
If a universal basic income is not to be the badge of people who can’t get their heads around the idea of a rational economy, anyone talking UBI has first to make the sums add up.
Martin London
Henllan, Denbighshire
• I strongly support the implementation of a universal basic income, but feel that it should be paid only to citizens who have lived in the country for 16 years. Those born here would receive it at 16, which would support them with their further education, higher education and apprenticeships. It should be set at the same level as the living wage, and would replace the old age pension and the jobseeker’s allowance. Other benefits would be paid on top for those in need.
Trevor Randall
Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire
• UBI already exists: it’s called the state pension. It should be easy to see how it works and affects enterprise and the labour market. It would also be possible to extend it progressively to younger ages, until some adverse effect was observed, or it met child benefit and became effectively universal. Odd that recent governments want to raise pensionable age until it meets age at death, and becomes extinct.
David Bowler
Perth
• The citizen’s wage sounds a wonderful idea, if only to lower the anxiety many have. But how do we make sure that the disabled have the extra income they need? Who will be willing to do the hard work of childcare, and looking after the elderly, for very little extra? These problems need working out but should not stop the whole idea.
Christina Naylor
Languenan, Brittany, France
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