Ancillary 4: Pro UBI

I am in favor of a Universal Basic Income. All the articles I have read have pointed to the same pros and cons of a UBI. The pros are that a UBI can help stimulate the economy, specifically helps the needy, allows people to live with less economic stress which increases the recipients’ health and qualities of life, and gives the employee more power over the employer. The cons are that a UBI discourages work, is not financially sustainable, increases taxes by too much which reduces economic growth, and would actually benefit the middle class instead of the poor because of the safety-net programs being cut to fund a UBI. Having considered all of these pros and cons, I am in favor of a UBI because I think that it is essential for people to have a guaranteed income to provide for a minimum quality of living.

In the current climate, the gap between the rich and poor is widening with wealth unequally distributed. People who need the necessary resources to get by can be seen taking unfavorable jobs with poor working conditions and an unacceptably low wage. A UBI would reduce this stress on these people because it would give them more flexibility to deal with their finances and cover their basic needs or approach a higher level of education. This would obviously stimulate their buying power and work power as they aren’t forced into crappy jobs and are instead allowed more financial freedom, which also results in a healthier and happier lifestyle according to statistics of UBI pilot programs.

Now, many opposers of a UBI state that it would discourage work because people no longer have to work in order to satisfy their needs, but this argument has not been backed up by any statistics so far from pilot programs implemented in various countries. Even the unconditional cash transfer that has been in place in Iran at a large scale doesn’t show any decrease in the supply for labor according to economists, so I feel comfortable disregarding this argument until/unless evidence for it is also provided. Furthermore, many people believe that these funds should only go to the poor and not everybody, but the truth is that wealthier people end up losing more money than they gain from a UBI because in large, they are paying higher taxes that help provide for the basic income. I do concede that we should not reduce safety-net programs like food stamps if we implement a UBI because many poor workers and unemployed citizens will face more challenges if they cannot rely on the programs in place for them anymore, and we should instead focus on taxing corporations and wealthy people to pay for the UBI. An example could be taxing carbon emissions more heavily and other pollutants, which would help reduce climate change while redistributing the wealth so that everyone has the means for survival in the current unfair circumstances.