18 Reasons to Support Basic Income

As much time as I spend talking about basic income, I support the policy for so many distinct reasons I have trouble keeping track of all of them. While it’s nearly impossible to produce a truly comprehensive list for such a far-reaching policy, what follows is an attempt at listing the major reasons I advocate for universal, unconditional cash transfers. My focus is on enacting this policy in California or the U.S. as a whole, but these reasons more or less apply everywhere. You are welcome to borrow and reference this list, just cite accordingly.

1. Drastically reduced poverty. Poverty is not a lack of character, it is a lack of cash. The Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which provide a few thousand dollars once a year to low-income families keep over 9 million people out of poverty, and make an additional 22 million less poor.[1] A basic income would have a similarly powerful poverty fighting effect, without the exclusions and reductions of the EITC and CTC.

2. Drastically reduced food insecurity — food insecurity is a direct result of poverty, and as we bring people out of poverty, the number of hungry people will fall precipitously.[2]

3. Much reduced housing insecurity. While housing presents challenges that go beyond poverty, it is also true that a few hundred dollars a month would allow many people who are being…