With Labour’s decision to push for the end of winter fuel payments for all, Britain has seen yet another step against the principle of universality in benefits this week. But while the tide here is pushing more and more in favour of means-testing every intervention possible, in the US, the opposite debate is being had: should even the largest interventions be universal?
In early May, Mike Konczal wrote an article in the Washington Post proposing a universal basic income (UBI), also called a “citizen’s income”. The idea is that significant proportions of the social insurance system get replaced with a “poverty-level” income which is given to all, universally and unconditionally. So rather than claiming unemployment benefit when out of work, disability benefit when sick, or a state pension in retirement, you claim a standard sum every month from the age of majority to your death, regardless of your status.
Content from our partners
