Re:Trends that will create demand for an Unconditional Basic...
by dragonwriter on Thursday July 11, 2013 @01:23PM
(#6027495)
> I'd be far more worried about this sending a false prosperity signal that could exacerbate our already insane and unsustainable population levels.
Strong social safety nets seem to be pretty strong contributors to reduced family size (which is why the developed world has low natural population growth and many of the places with the strongest safety nets have negative natural population growth) because people don't need children as a form of old-age insurance.
> Why the hell should I pay even more and subsidize those who have more than two kids?
A fixed basic income per adult is self-evidently not a subsidy for having more kids. In fact, compared to existing welfare policy (where the principal basis for cash benefits is number of dependent children), its a disincentive for that.
Strong social safety nets seem to be pretty strong contributors to reduced family size (which is why the developed world has low natural population growth and many of the places with the strongest safety nets have negative natural population growth) because people don't need children as a form of old-age insurance.
> Why the hell should I pay even more and subsidize those who have more than two kids?
A fixed basic income per adult is self-evidently not a subsidy for having more kids. In fact, compared to existing welfare policy (where the principal basis for cash benefits is number of dependent children), its a disincentive for that.