Pros and Cons of Universal Basic Income

Universal basic income, or UBI, is a modern-day concept under which the government distributes cash payments to all.

This concept has been around since Thomas More proposed a basic income to everyone in Utopia, written nearly 500 years.

Once a radical plan, UBI has many advocates from the political left and right in the US and globally.

Income inequality has been on the rise  over the past decades. The highest-earning 20% of US households have  steadily brought in a larger share of the country’s income.

Income Inequality

The net worth or wealth gap between America’s wealthiest and more impoverished families has more than doubled from 1989 to 2016.

Wealth Gap

The poverty rate in 2019 was 10.5%, or 34 million in the US. This rate was the lowest since 1959 and had been on the decline for the past few years.

Poverty

The coronavirus pandemic caused a severe economic downturn with high unemployment, which remains at high levels.

The Pandemic Effects

There have been rising worries that artificial intelligence and robotics can displace workers in the future.

Automation May Displace Workers

The CARES Act implemented a government financial support program for those facing hardship due to the pandemic.

To All Or Only Those In Need

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