Re:Universal Basic Income is Capitalism 2.0
by zentiggr on Thursday July 30, 2020 @11:27AM
(#23999276)
I can't see your logic.
If someone is making ends meet by working at your (illegally low) wage, then having that wage _plus_ UBI means that they are UBI rate / existing wage times better off.
The wage's percentage of total income dropping is a red herring.
No one will be pushed to work more when they have _more_ resources at hand.
Maybe, maybe not.
For clarity, I am a fan of UBI. But I'd like to run through a hypothesis about an adverse effect.
If you add the UBI and costs go up accordingly, the real, marginal benefit they can obtain by working for $3.25 an hour will actually decrease.
This means someone who is in circumstances where they can currently earn a meagre income to tip the balance to being able to make ends meet in that circumstance, will find their ability to work the same amount in a UBI world will not tip the balance to being able to make ends meet.
In other words they will be pushed to change circumstance, towards more work and/or lower cost. E.g. move somewhere cheaper, work more hours.
This does not sound like a net benefit for the already impoverished. It sounds like a trap, because low-wage working will provide less marginal benefit to change what people can afford when they are stuck.