Re:A Basic Income Should Be the Next Big Thing
by uhtred on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @08:28AM
(#11619931)
Surely $833 a month ($10,000 a year) still wouldn't be even close to enough for someone who is unemployed to live? Wouldn't rent and bills use that up, without leaving anything for food, clothing etc? I love the idea of universal basic income, but I feel it would need to be double the amount proposed in this article to really change society for the better. Otherwise people will still need to resort to crime to extra money, seeing as there are going to be even less jobs in the future.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:A Basic Income Should Be the Next Big Thing
by habosa on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @03:11PM
(#11623361)
While I also find it hard to believe, the Federal Poverty Line is $11,880 for individuals. If you make $12k a year you are not considered to be in poverty (if you live alone).
So yes, 10k a year would still leave people below the current poverty line. But over 45 million americans already live below the poverty line. So evidence suggest it actually is enough to survive by some standard and may be a good place to start since it's likely that people will be able to find some supplementary income through work.
In the long term the goal would be to significantly increase quality of living for all and hopefully change the horrifying numbers I just presented.
Re:A Basic Income Should Be the Next Big Thing
by pyrrhotech on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @03:43PM
(#11623605)
With a little planning and an abandonment of materialism, it is pretty easy to live on 10,000 a year in the US. Example: http://earlyretirementextreme.com/how-i-live-on-7000-per-yea...
Re:A Basic Income Should Be the Next Big Thing
by danielvf on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @08:42AM
(#11620022)
I've volunteered at English as a second language classes. I've met plenty of people who live on less than that, while still having cars, smartphones, housing, and food.
America has about 11 million people who legally are forbidden from having a job. Many get black market jobs paying less than minimum wage, and still have money left over to send back home.