Basic income experiments, past and future
(2019) International Conference on the Future of Labor, Welfare, and Social Security — Location: Seoul, Korea (5.December.2019)
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- Abstract
- In the last decade or so, the idea of an unconditional basic income has become increasingly popular. This presentation does not aim at bringing forward the powerful liberal-egalitarian arguments in favour of this idea. Assuming its attractiveness with regard to guaranteeing income security, it will rather focus on its prospects in terms of implementation. In this perspective, some argue that the main issue with implementing a basic income is that its effects on labour supply are very difficult to anticipate. What if there is a sharp reduction in working time due to the fact that economic security is no more dependent on work? In order to test this impact, experiments have been conducted in the 1960s and 1970s in North America, and are currently conducted in Europe. I give an overview of these experiments, explain some of the lessons that can be drawn from them, and also insist on the reasons why these lessons should be treated with some caution. In conclusion, I argue in favour of more gradual steps towards a basic income, in particular under the form of a so-called “categorical basic income”.
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Vanderborght, Y. (2019). Basic income experiments, past and future. International Conference on the Future of Labor, Welfare, and Social Security, Seoul, Korea. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/169278