YOU DECIDE: Guaranteed Basic Income
The city of Stockton, California is trying a new program to help out some of its poorest residents. It’s called Guaranteed Basic Income, or GBI. Stockton will be the first U.S. city to try it. Here’s how it works: a few dozen of the poorest households in Stockton will receive a check for $500 each month for up to the next 18 months. This is different from welfare, because there are no strings attached.
Do you think Guaranteed Basic Income is a good idea? Credit: ptnphoto/Shutterstock
The idea is to give everyone a basic living wage. And because the program is funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Economic Security project, it won’t cost taxpayers any money.
Based on what you read and have seen on the news, You Decide: Is Guaranteed Basic Income a good idea?
NO
- If people automatically receive a check every month whether or not they earn it, they will be less motivated to go out and work for money.
- Giving people a handout every month will make them dependent on the government.
- The program has never been studied extensively and so it is unclear whether or not it is successful.
- It’s very expensive. If we were to adopt a similar GBI plan nationwide, it could cost the United States up to $3 trillion per year.
YES
- All human beings deserve to have their basic needs–such as food, water, and shelter–met. Working hard doesn’t necessarily guarantee that these needs will be met, which is why some additional help is sometimes needed.
- $500 is a small enough amount that families will still have to work in addition to receiving the check, meaning that they won’t become dependent on it.
- When people have more free time to spend with their children, families, and neighbors, the community as a whole will benefit.
- The concept of GBI–also known as basic income guarantee, or universal basic income–has been around for more than 500 years and has been endorsed by a wide range of people, from Thomas Paine to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, to President Richard Nixon.
- The program already exists in other countries, such as Finland. Here in the US, Alaskan residents also receive an automatic monthly stipend.