UBI; the future of welfare.

Money is not the path to happiness, an often-quoted phrase. But money does open up avenues to happiness. If you lack money you can’t buy books, watch sports, go to the movies etc… your entire life becomes the pursuit of money to survive. We need money to buy food, buy shelter, buy water, to buy life. Without money a person lacks any legs to stand on. Without money you are improvised. So how do we deal with the problem, well we give people money. We implement a universal basic income. Every person over the age 18 and under a certain wage bracket get a guaranteed income from the government for them do what they like. The specifics will vary depending on context and willingness of states, but this is more of an argument for its implementation rather than nailed down policy specifics. Many nations have implemented or tested UBI in some form; Finland and Germany have both run successful test in the last few years. Kenya has the largest and longest running programme. Even the U.K tried it in the early 19th century. This money is always no strings attached like income you may get from work. This is the great thing about U.B.I, it is free money for you to do with what you wish. A simple solution to a complex problem. So simple it looks border line idiotic. So simple it takes two words to example it; Free Money. So simple you wouldn’t expect it to work. Yet it has, Rutger Bregman in his book ‘Utopia for realists’ highlights the town of Mincome, Canada in 1973 were residents were given $19,000 a year, it ran for four years and was shut down for political reasons and the records were hidden; until they were later found. So, what happened collapse? Decrease in work? Well, the largest decrease in work hours was 5% for unmarried women, male ‘breadwinners’ (it was the 70’s) only decreased working hours by an 1%, so people were still working. People were actually using the money with purpose, they used it to take longer time off after they had a baby, students used it to stay in school longer. But importantly hospital admission went down, domestic disputes/ violence went down, mental health issues went down, drastically. The reason for this improvement in health and life was quite simple people were happier and healthier, as they didn’t have to worry about their financial stability, they were giving more freedom to make choices. They enjoyed their leisure more and it was more varied. They bought healthier food which is often locked behind a price barrier. The project even saved the government money. Why? Because people were spending more, so the government raked in money from VAT. Further, large social service that cost a lot money were able to reduce their budgets without major disruptions in people’s lives. Most importantly poverty was wiped out as the poor can use the money as support system to find work or gain skills, while not having to waste their lives in meaningless work to survive or in ineffective job centres.

Another successful example of UBI can be found in London in 2009. 13 rough sleepers were given £3,000 in spending money to do with what they wish, they were offered a finical advisor, but it wasn’t compulsory. After a year and a half seven had permeant places to sleep and two more were about to move into apartments, all made great strides to improve their lives. One of them went from a 20-year heroin addiction to being sober and taking gardening classes, greatly changing his life around. The cost of the rough sleepers on the state prior to U.B.I was £400,000 a year, the cost of the programme was £50,000 so by giving away money for free the state weirdly saved money.

Pretty much, every study has been a success. Poverty goes down or is outright eliminated, and people get happier and healthier. The government makes money. It is even an easier system to implement then modern benefits packages as there is no criteria that needs to be met. Poverty is a simple thing to solve and U.B.I is that solution. UBI is throwing money at a problem and it works. UBI in the most simplistic of terms makes everything better.

So, let me ask you, every year you are given £5,000 no string attached what would do with it? Would use it for rent and groceries? Would use it for debt and other bills? Would use it to go out or shop? Does it matter? Well, no. To exist within a safety net is to truly experience life, the wealthy have these safety nets. No matter what happens their parents will pay for it or they have a trust fund or mummy and daddy will get them an easy job that pays well. They get to experience a no strings attached budget, but most don’t. If we were all given this true support, happiness would increase. It is not enough money to exist upon solely, but it is enough money to give people protection. It gives the ability to use money we earn from work, to use on leisure and to enjoy ourselves. We should not be working ourselves to death just to survive, we cannot be happy in a workplace alone. What I’m suggesting is freedom, not absolute we will still have to work but it won’t be as much of a brutal necessity, we won’t need to work 2 or more jobs, we won’t need to work 10-hour days plus overtime to afford food. We will be given safety in our existence; the wealthy already exist like this so why can’t we all.

This new system of welfare might also be the way to save lives in this pandemic. People are losing their jobs, houses and lives to a brutal economic system that encourages your sacrifice for billionaires to make money. The current system fails, this one will not. People need money and they need economic safety UBI provides both of those things. It is the future, a realistic one and a necessary one