More and more Americans now believe people should be paid money just for existing.
Just 10 years ago, a poll showed just 12% of Americans approved of a universal basic income (UBI). According to CNBC, that number has shot up dramatically to 48% of Americans. The new poll, conducted by Northeastern University and Gallup, probed 3,000 adults.
Supporters of UBI, such as political philosopher and economist Karl Widerquist, called the new poll “really promising.”
Models for the implementation of UBI vary, but the most likely would be the federal government distributing “regular checks to everyone, regardless of their earnings or employment,” according to CNBC. Experimentations are currently being tried in Finland and Canada. More from CNBC:
Y Combinator Research, based in Oakland, California, started a test of a basic income last year, and is raising funds to expand the research project. This year in Stockton, California, Mayor Michael Tubbs’s Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration will give several dozen low-income families $500 each month in a study of basic income. And for decades, Alaska residents have each received around $2,000 a year from the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Guy Standing, co-founder of the Basic Income Earth Network, told the World Economic Forum that UBI will be a tremendous benefit to society because it will take the burden off people’s shoulders.
“The claim is often made that if you give people a basic income, they’ll become lazy and stop doing work,” Standing said. “It’s an insult to the human condition. Basic incomes tend to increase people’s work rather than reduce it.”
Standing says that people’s mental and emotional health go up under UBI, allowing them to pursue more meaningful work.
Support for UBI has not gained overwhelming popularity yet, with 52% of Americans still against it. Unsurprisingly, the support breaks down along party lines, with 65% of Democrats supporting it versus 28% of Republicans. A majority (54%) of millennials support UBI.