![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Free money for all!
Apr. 2nd, 2003 10:52 amThere's a new political party in the UK. It's got numerous ideas I don't agree with, but one of them is something I've been meaning to mention for a long while - Universal Benefit.
The main problem with most benefits is that they either discourage people from getting jobs or they have a gap where you'd be better off not earning a bit more money. It makes no sense to me to discourage people from working, but I also believe that the government should provide a safety net for people so that they don't starve on the streets.
In addition to this, many low-paying jobs treat their employees like shit because they know they can't leave easily. If there was a way for people to leave terrible jobs, there'd be no alternative but for employers to make the job less terrible if they wanted staff.
I was therefore glad to see that the idea of Universal Benefits is getting an airing. The basic idea is that all people are given an amount of money necessary to cover basic food, clothes and housing. This replaces the current (in the UK) income support, housing benefit, family benefit, pension, student grant (not that this really exists much anymore), etc.
In order to cover this, a simplified tax system is put into place, whereby a flat x% is paid by all people with no income bands, personal allowances, etc. - after all, now that your essentials are covered, anything else is technically luxury of some kind. Poorer people will still be significantly better off because the benefit will be a larger proportion of their income.
The simplification of the benefits system should slice away a whole layer of bureaucracy, making it easier for poor people to get access to money they need and allowing for more flexibility in the labour market because people will find it easier to leave a job and take another despite their being a gap in between.
Apparently as an idea it's been around on the fringes for a while, but this is the first time I've seen it proposed by a political organisation (albeit one that doesn't stand a chance of being elected). Hopefully, it'll catch on.
The main problem with most benefits is that they either discourage people from getting jobs or they have a gap where you'd be better off not earning a bit more money. It makes no sense to me to discourage people from working, but I also believe that the government should provide a safety net for people so that they don't starve on the streets.
In addition to this, many low-paying jobs treat their employees like shit because they know they can't leave easily. If there was a way for people to leave terrible jobs, there'd be no alternative but for employers to make the job less terrible if they wanted staff.
I was therefore glad to see that the idea of Universal Benefits is getting an airing. The basic idea is that all people are given an amount of money necessary to cover basic food, clothes and housing. This replaces the current (in the UK) income support, housing benefit, family benefit, pension, student grant (not that this really exists much anymore), etc.
In order to cover this, a simplified tax system is put into place, whereby a flat x% is paid by all people with no income bands, personal allowances, etc. - after all, now that your essentials are covered, anything else is technically luxury of some kind. Poorer people will still be significantly better off because the benefit will be a larger proportion of their income.
The simplification of the benefits system should slice away a whole layer of bureaucracy, making it easier for poor people to get access to money they need and allowing for more flexibility in the labour market because people will find it easier to leave a job and take another despite their being a gap in between.
Apparently as an idea it's been around on the fringes for a while, but this is the first time I've seen it proposed by a political organisation (albeit one that doesn't stand a chance of being elected). Hopefully, it'll catch on.
