What is a Universal Basic Income (UBI)?
A Basic Income (or Universal Basic Income, UBI) is simply a form of social security where all citizens of a nation receive a set amount of money from the government or other public institutions independent of any other income they may earn.
At A Richer You, we like the idea of a basic income. Technology (and to a lesser degree, outsourcing) are dynamically impacting the US job market. In the near future there will be millions of jobs lost in transportation, analytics, healthcare, and many other industries.
This isn't bad, it's just different. And to prevent another Great Depression, we need to plan ahead. A Universal Basic Income is a great way to do this.
Now, before you jump to the conclusion that this is some sort of crazy communist idea, many conservative and libertarian economists (including Milton Freedman) have been advocates of a basic income. After all, if you're going to have welfare programs anyway, why not make them fair for all?
Basic Income isn't “left” or “right”, it's forward. — Scott Santens
With support from prominent entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and others, Universal Basic Income is fast becoming a plausible financial solution for a future where self-driving cars, computerized analysts, and robots place many blue and white collar jobs at risk.
For more detailed reading on the subject, visit this list of Basic Income books on Amazon. Additionally, check out the following blogs and websites:
Finally, if you want to see a list of current UBI experiments and pilots, check out this Wikipedia page.
Universal Basic Income FAQs
Now, there are inevitably many questions that you may still have about a Basic Income. Who will receive it? How will it be paid for? Won't it risk making people lazy? Will it benefit families or reinforce gender roles? What will its impact be on other welfare programs?
Although there are many different ideas on how to pay for a basic income, and what other programs it may replace, the following websites provide general answers to many of the broader questions around a basic income:
Now that you have a basic understanding of how a UBI might work, jump over to our Basic Income giveaway for your chance to win $500/month for two years from ARicherYou.com! Then, join the public conversation and begin exploring the pros and cons of a UBI for yourself.