Essay – Universal Basic Income

Q. Over the last three decades all countries around the world have become more unequal.
Giving each adult a basic income would help to fix this inequality and at the same time it will
strengthen the economy. Discuss

The amount of taxes required to fund a guaranteed income naturally presents challenges. Though
taxes do affect the economy, the sustainability of every government's taxation policy is not really
connected to that. If governments would be able to collect taxation depends on whether they
have the strength and integrity to use the power. In most developed countries and some middle-
income countries, such as China and India, wealth inequality has increased since 1990. More
than two-thirds of the world's population (71%) resides in countries where poverty levels have
risen. Increasing disparities, on the other hand, are not a global phenomenon. In most Latin
American and Caribbean countries, as well as many African and Asian countries, the Gini
coefficient of income inequality has declined over the last two decades. Despite development,
income and wealth are concentrated disproportionately at the top of some countries. Between
1990 and 2015, the share of global income going to the richest 1% of the population increased in
46 of 57 countries and regions (Banerjee et al, 2019).
Meanwhile, the bottom 40% of the population of all 92 countries with data got less than 25% of
overall wages. While economic disparities have widened within certain countries, they are
narrowing as relative to other countries. The vigorous economic growth of China and other
Asia's developing economies has been a major trigger of this slowdown. However, this
convergence is not evenly distributed, and large differences between countries and regions do
exist. Northern Americans, for example, have a 16-fold higher annual income than their
counterparts in Sub-Saharan Africa (De Wispelaere, and Stirton,, 2004). The elimination of these
stark disparities is needed to meet the 2030 Agenda's targets and objectives "for all nations and
societies." According to the 2030 Agenda, age, sex, disability, colour, ethnicity, birthplace,
religion, and economic or other status are all variables that affect access to opportunity. Despite
the fact that global wealth disparities are driving polarised political debate, a consensus has
emerged that everybody should have equal access to education and that one's chances of
achievement should not be determined by circumstances outside one's control. Significant
progress in addressing critical needs, such as improved child well-being and increased primary
school completion, has aided in the reduction of disparity within some ethnic groups. Children
from the poorest communities, on the other hand, will continue to lag behind by 2030 unless
development accelerates. If progress persists at the same rate as it did from the 1990s to the
2010s, closing the ethnicity-related stunting gap, for example, will take more than four decades.
Evidence suggests that gaps in higher-level achievements are widening or persisting. After the
year 2000, racial disparities in high school attendance have increased, by socioeconomic status,
or wealth quintile, both by both boys and girls in developing countries. In terms of learning
outcomes, there are substantial and persistent differences. These kinds of inequalities have a long
tradition, but they'll stick around even though the conditions that led to them change. Ethnic
minorities are frequently marginalised except in countries where special efforts are made to
promote ethnic minorities' integration. Members of traditionally oppressed communities start
with less assets and less social and human capital than representatives of other social classes
(Banerjee, 2019). Despite widespread condemnation, racism and misogyny prove to be major
obstacles to equal opportunities – and to reaching the SDGs. Societies with high levels of
inequality are less effective than societies with low levels of inequality in reducing poverty. They
continue to rise at a slower rate and have a more difficult time sustaining economic growth.
Individuals find it impossible to break out from the cycle of oppression due to disparities in
health and education, allowing disadvantage to be handed on from generation to generation.
Inequalities consolidate political influence among those who are already better off in the lack of
proper laws and structures, which continues to perpetuate or even widen inequalities of
opportunities. The wealthy's growing political clout erodes faith in policymakers' ability to
satisfy the needs of the majority. This lack of trust in particular has the power to destabilise
political structures and hinder democracy's functioning. Public dissatisfaction is still high in
countries that have mostly recovered from the 2008 financial and economic crises and have seen
steady growth in recent years (Hoynes, and Rothstein, 2019).

Universal basic income (UBI) is a quickly emerging idea in the mainstream, and it's gaining
steam. What if a guaranteed income is the solution to today's wage disparities? He found a well-
respected sociologist who spoke to us about the word in his introduction in the World Social
Science Report 2016: Professor Erik Olin Wright defined the terms in his introduction for us in
the report on 2016.
a universal minimum basic income is a simple concept: everyone has the right to get a stipend
above-poverty income from the government That which is, no offence, "culturally appropriate"
will be the minimum acceptable level of simplicity The grant should not come with any sort of
conditions; it is entirely free of charge, or it is given by all, regardless of their financial status.
The grant goes to the person, not to his or her family (Bidadanure, 2019). A parent could serve as
a grant-maker for children younger than 18. the majority of other redistributions are limited and
everybody gets a respectable incomes progressive programmes including universal schools and
health care that provide advantages to the public in general coexist with currency conversion
programmes like the UBI, however the latter is lessening the overall importance of the former
due to everybody getting a respectable incomes As a consequence, under welfare schemes which
are implemented with smaller targeted measures like a piecework, the net cost effectiveness of
UBI is unimportant. For example, support programmes for those with special needs like autism
continue to occur, albeit at a smaller level than before people were covered under minimum
income requirements. Minimum wage policies are abolished when it's assumed that wages lower
than the poverty level would be adequate. While people agree to take money from the
government, few are likely to be cash donations over the long term if their taxes escalate
overstep their personal needs (Chohan, 2017).

UBI can greatly affect inequality. Because employees may quit, suffering is lessened, and the
bond between staff and employers is rendered more voluntary. They join more cooperatives
when they are not required to guarantee a minimal standard of living. However, basic income
critics commonly employ two main arguments: the first is that it decreases labour production and
the second is that the taxes needed to pay for it will be completely overwhelming. The problem
may be twofold. In the first place, "means checked" income insurance measures are plagued with
poverty loops, in which recipients have to give up their subsidies after their earned income
reaches a predetermined level. On the other hand, a UBI offers little discouragement to
productivity. Paid work also brings in an increase in net income for those on a UBI. The second
benefit of piloting a basic income programs is that it allows us and do micro-level studies and
learn more about the effect on labour engagement in countries all around the world. As a
randomised clinical trial were performed in the US and Canada in the 1970s, low-income
individuals were selected, and assigned a monthly income. In 2011, eight villages in India were
chosen to be provided with an unconditional cash transfer of money for their people. Both
studies indicate that UBI has a minimal effect on overall workforce participation but an
enormous impact on people's happiness (Reed, and Lansley, 2016).
References
Banerjee, A., Niehaus, P. and Suri, T., (2019). Universal basic income in the developing
world. Annual Review of Economics.

Bidadanure, J.U., (2019). The political theory of universal basic income. Annual Review of
Political Science, 22, pp.481-501.

Chohan, U.W., (2017). Universal basic income: A Review. Available at SSRN 3013634.

De Wispelaere, J. and Stirton, L., (2004). The many faces of universal basic income. The
Political Quarterly, 75(3), pp.266-274.

Hoynes, H. and Rothstein, J., (2019). Universal basic income in the United States and advanced
countries. Annual Review of Economics, 11, pp.929-958.

Reed, H. and Lansley, S., (2016). Universal Basic Income: An idea whose time has come?.
London: Compass.