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Expanding basic services could be more effective at reducing poverty than a Universal Basic Income
16 May 2019
Strengthening and extending universal services would be a more effective way of tackling global poverty and improving wellbeing than a universal basic income (UBI), according to a report by the 果冻影院 Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP).
The report, 鈥楿niversal Basic Services: Theory and Practice鈥�, finds that expanding access and broadening provision of Universal Basic Services (UBS) into new areas including childcare, adult social care, transport and digital information would be of greater value to people in the lowest income groups.
Such services, including those previously touted such as access to quality education and healthcare, bring intrinsic benefits without which individuals and families are less likely to be able to meet their own needs.
Access to public services can reduce income inequalities by providing a 鈥榮ocial wage鈥� that is worth more to people in the lowest income groups, meaning UBS is a more targeted approach than UBI. Reducing inequalities could benefit society as a whole.
The report finds that UBS would be cheaper to implement than a UBI, which guarantees a basic wage to everyone regardless of status. UBS would cost around 拢42.2 billion, which is 2.3% of the UK鈥檚 GDP and less than 10% of the cost of typical basic income schemes.
The report argues that UBS would be more effective at creating the foundations for a society that can live sustainably, both financially and environmentally. For example, tackling climate change requires public services such as transport to be made freely available to those who need them the most in order to create the necessary transformational change required.
Andrew Percy, Director of the 果冻影院 IGP Social Prosperity Network said: 鈥淚f we are going to change our lifestyles to comply with the planet鈥檚 boundaries, then universal access to basic public services must be the foundation of 21st century welfare that delivers real social security, allows people to make meaningful choices about their work, and can be delivered in an affordable and practical way.鈥�
The report is the second from the IGP鈥檚 Social Prosperity Network on developing ideas for a sustainable welfare state suitable for the 21st century and continues the IGP鈥檚 push for UBS to become a major plank in any future government鈥檚 policy matrix.
The launch of the report marks the start of a year of discussions with academics and researchers, who hope to have a policy template ready for implementation by the end of their talks in 2020. The report was supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
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Kate Corry
Tel: +44 (0)20 3108 6995
Email: k.corry [at] ucl.ac.uk
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