Advantages & disadvantages of universal basic income
People can bear expenses and can look for jobs that they are actually passionate
1) Advantage is that the ones employed in jobs that pay paltry salaries and those who are compelled to go to their jobs only to bear their expenses,they need not do such jobs anymore. They can quit these jobs because they would already be provided with a basic income.
They can then pursue their hobbies. They can look for jobs that they are actually passionate about So if you notice, the overall happiness of the society would increase because of this And it would also spur innovation because in general, the residents of a country would be working for something that they are passionate about.
Increase in Productivity,Innovation and happiness
2) There would be a positive increase in all three- Productivity, innovation and happiness. I'm saying would be because all of this is an assumption. It has not been tested on a large scale anywhere So these are positive assumptions that might happen because of it.
Families would get more time to spend with one another
3) The families would get more time to spend with one another. If someone wants to work part time and does not want to remain employed full time,then that's also a choice.It would no longer be a compulsion to remain employed full time And if somebody wants to go back to school or enroll in a university for a course,then there would be time for that too.There would be no need to join a job right at the start,which happens quite frequently with the lower section of the society.They are forced into child labour in order to bear their expenses.
4) The fourth advantage is that since it is a universal scheme,that is, it applies to everyone, without any conditions and without any paperwork. It would diminish (the need for) bureaucracy. The government can save money in administrative costs.The government would not need to keep a check on whether someone is misusing the scheme or whether someone is not following it correctly or not or if the money is being siphoned off elsewhere where it should not go. All of it would not happen.In the normal unemployment benefits or other welfare schemes of the government it is extremely difficult to regulate to make sure that the money reaches the right destination.
Disadvantages of Universal Basic Income
Let us now move to the negative points.What are the arguments of those who are against the Universal Basic income?
1) People Became Lazy
The first argument is quite obvious- which might have come to your mind as well. If everyone would get money for free, then the people would become lazy Nobody would want to work. And if no one would want to work, how would the society and the nation progress?
Everyone would become lazy and take free money to run their lives.This is the negative argument.You will notice that this too, is an assumption
2) Inflation In The Economy
The second negative point is that if everyone is distributed free money then this would result in an inflation in the economy. The value of money would depreciate. How would that happen?
Consider that you're giving everyone money for free So the people would want to spend money on different things And if they want to spread on different things then the demand of those things would increase And the producers of these goods and services would want to produce more But if the supply chain does not allow the production of more items then they would raise the cost of their goods.
They would see that the demand of the things have risen so much in the economy,then they think about raising money and making more profit And if the prices rise, then those things would become affordable again So the value of the basic income would fall So the value of money would depreciate and the situation would remain as it was. The money with the people does not have enough value to buy things So, then, basic income would no longer remain basic This too, is an assumption.
3) Dependent On Free Money
The third reason is that the people might become over dependent on this money,Think about it: If Universal Basic income is being enacted in a country for a period of 10 years.The people would become so used to the free money that comes from the government that.
If that money stops coming in for whatsoever reason then the society and economy would crash completely Because the people are not self sustained on their own.The people do not know how to bear their expenses without that money So the entire economy would crash completely
4) Inequality Is Increase (disadvantage for poor people)
Fourthly is Increase in inequality, It is argued that this will pose a disadvantage for the poor people Consider it- a man from the poor class, middle class and rich class. All three of them are given the same amount of money in the name of basic income.
It can provide a decent living standard for the very poor to help him bear his expenses For the middle class people, this would be some extra money that they can spend on further luxuries And for the rich class, the money from the basic income is actually useless For them, the amount is so less that it is of no use to them So, there is a disadvantage for the person belonging to the very poor category-taking this basic income as compared to the middle class and rich class So, in some sense, inequality is increasing because of it instead of decreasing.
5) Government needs to Compromise
The fifth point- the most important one- the money that is being spent by the government on UBI to give money to the people.Where will this money come from?It would be extremely costly for the government to give so much money to everyone And the second thing is that the government would have to compromise.If the government was spending money on constructing better schools and hospitals,Now the government would have to divert money on order to give money to the people for free which, arguably, is not the correct utilization of money. It would be better to use that money to improve public services Here I'd like you to weigh in- You have heard both the positive and the negative points.
Which do you think is stronger- The positive side or the negative side regarding this Universal Basic Income?Write down in the comments below, I want to know your opinion.
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Examples and Past Experiments on Universal Basic Income
Let us look at the experiments conducted on Universal Basic Income worldwide.What have been their results?Was the positive side stronger or the negative side stronger?
Universal Basic Income in Finland 2017-2018
The first experiment is from Finland which was the first European country to test Universal Basic Income. In the period between January 2017 and December 2018.
The Government of Finland chose 2000 unemployed Finnish people and they were given 560 Euros per month, without any condition.An analysis is still ongoing and the results of this study have still not arrived. They'd be here by the end of this year But preliminary results have revealed that in general, in the people who were given this basic income,improvements in health conditions and their happiness levels were observed but if we talk about the employment level, there was no improvement there That is, it did not so happen that the unemployed people began getting more job opportunities.
Universal Basic Income In Ontario, Canada
A second example is that of Ontario, Canada, where 4000 people were randomly selected between the ages of 18-64 and a basic income was provided to them. This experiment began in 2017 and it was supposed to go on for three years But the government changes in July 2018 and the new government decided not to waste money on this.
It was a waste of money according to them and so they stopped the experiment in the middle But there were some observations of experts on the basis of the part of the experiment that was conducted. Their observations was that there was considerable improvement in the healthcare cost of people.The government save money in healthcare because of this and the people were feeling healthier, in general.
Universal Basic Income In India (Sikkim)
A similar story happened in India.The SDF Party in Sikkim said in January 2019 that they would make Sikkim the first state in India to give Universal Basic Income to its people.This was their election promise for May 2019 But they lost the elections in May, 2019 and another party formed the government there So this could not become possible.
You could also say that Rahul Gandhi's NYAY scheme.
I feel that we should wait for a few more years and observe the results of these experiments on whether it creates a positive or negative effect in the society. I hope you would have found this to be informative. Share this.
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