>There is an increasing global conversation about the idea of a ‘Universal Basic Income’ – a universal weekly payment to all eligible citizens.
Wouldn't everyone be eligible for a universal basic income? Are all persons eligible citizens? Is the article actually talking about an ‘Eligible Citizens' Basic Income’?
It's obviously not feasible to promise everyone that indefinitely with no strings attached so long as they turn up in your country and ask for it. Simplest solution is to make it passport based. This particular proposal appears to insist that young people prove they deserve it too...
So "eligible citizens" in this case probably means "almost everybody, minus a few exceptions the legislature will certainly come up with".
I believe "criminals (current and former), drug addicts, and the willfully unemployed" are all eligible under most proposed schemes, although the income level may differ for current prisoners.
Edit: according to the RSA blog introducing their proposal: "Prisoners would not receive it."
https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/rs...
> "These are the vulnerable, marginalized and (sometimes) disenfranchised groups that America loves to shit on when it comes to social programs and basic rights."
The RSA (publisher of this report) is British.
I would think when the state acts as ward to an individual, the agency would receive the BI on their behalf.
I've always felt basic income would greatly simplify many funding / administrative questions. Perhaps my view is too simplistic.
Probably not a good idea if we want to see our prison population lessen in the future.
I see no reason why we should exclude drug addicts. What level of drug do you start to count against a person? More people die from alcohol than marijuana, and I barely know anybody who isn't on some level addicted to caffeine. Prescription opiates are entirely legal, but lots of people are addicted to those.
The willfully unemployed are more or less the entire point of UBI. The theory is that as society increasingly moves towards automation, there will be fewer and fewer jobs, making the willfully unemployed a rapidly growing segment of the population, and that's a good thing as it will allow people to do with their time what they will.