Universal Income

[DerekMugwanya]

Have a universal income of, say, £10,000 per year (approx. £200 per week) for all adult UK citizens living in the country. For pensioners, this would replace their pension. Then have a special 50% tax rate for earnings between, say, £30,000 and £50,000 a year. So any one earning over £50k be nett no better off. This will remove the major criticism of UI proposals, that they are unaffordable. But the benefits would remain:

1. Elimination of a great deal of bureaucracy
2. Remove the stigma of being on benefits - everyone gets the same
3. Make it easier when someone loses a job - they still have an income
4. Makes it easier for someone to start a small business - they still have an income
5. Get rid of the high marginal rates of 'tax' on the poor when they get a job but lose benefits as a result
6. People will be able to use part time jobs, geared around their life needs
7. The simplicity makes it harder to game or cheat the system
8. From a benefits point of view, black market jobs become a non-issue rather than a major fraud issue

The rate should be set at something like 75% of a living income, but issues would remain:

1. This does not incentivise people to work, but it does remove some of the barriers currently in place for people who want to work
2. It allows people to get a living income by getting a part time job, but this depends on the part time jobs being available
3. By being citizen based rather than household based, 2-3 people living together to survive without working. This can be considered bad (since we want people to be productive) or good (better utilisation of the housing stock)