3 ms·

>This article says it's talking about a universal basic income, and makes the usual point that a completely universal, no-strings-attached income is simple to a

>This article says it's talking about a universal basic income, and makes the usual point that a completely universal, no-strings-attached income is simple to administer, doesn't have poverty traps, etc. Does anyone advocate giving it to everyone? What about children? Does a child get the same as an adult? What about non-citizens who are in the nation legally? What about non-citizens who are in the nation illegally? What about citizen children of non-citizens who are in the nation illegally? There are consequences to saying yes to any of these we need to think through, but perhaps more importantly, is there even a chance of passing some of these (could you imagine the Republican attack on answering yes to either of the last two?).

Unklejoe 10y ago
The only feasible approach in my opinion: [What about children? Does a child get the same as an adult?] Yes, but the funds are stored in an account and are inaccessible to them until a certain age is met (or they qualify as an independent, similar to how the FAFSA (doesn't) work). [What about non-citizens who are in the nation legally?] No. [What about non-citizens who are in the nation illegally?] No. [What about citizen children of non-citizens who are in the nation illegally?] Yes.
dragonwriter 10y ago
On the issue of children, non citizens, etc., my personal view of the best way for a UBI to work are: > What about children? Does a child get the same as an adult? Maybe; if so, the child's allotment goes to the legal guardian (and, like the guardian's own UBI, is treated as income for tax and other purposes), but you also eliminate child-care related tax deductions and credits. > What about non-citizens who are in the nation legally? What about non-citizens who are in the nation illegally? I would lean toward saying citizens and legal permanent residents (green card holders) get UBI. Others do not (note that this includes non-immigrant work visa holders, like H-1Bs), though in the odd case of a non-UBI-eligible (but legally present) parent with a UBI-eligible child, the parent would be eligible to draw the child's UBI, just as a parent with their own UBI eligibility with a UBI-eligible child would. > What about citizen children of non-citizens who are in the nation illegally? That's...trickier. My preference would be that the citizen child would get an allotment, but that the guardian would have to normalize status to draw that allotment. The details of that are more for a discussion of immigration policy than UBI policy though. An even trickier question is non-resident citizens, and particularly non-resident U.S. citizen children of non-resident non-citizens.

Unklejoe 10y ago

The only feasible approach in my opinion: [What about children? Does a child get the same as an adult?] Yes, but the funds are stored in an account and are inaccessible to them until a certain age is met (or they qualify as an independent, similar to how the FAFSA (doesn't) work). [What about non-citizens who are in the nation legally?] No. [What about non-citizens who are in the nation illegally?] No. [What about citizen children of non-citizens who are in the nation illegally?] Yes.

dragonwriter 10y ago

On the issue of children, non citizens, etc., my personal view of the best way for a UBI to work are: > What about children? Does a child get the same as an adult? Maybe; if so, the child's allotment goes to the legal guardian (and, like the guardian's own UBI, is treated as income for tax and other purposes), but you also eliminate child-care related tax deductions and credits. > What about non-citizens who are in the nation legally? What about non-citizens who are in the nation illegally? I would lean toward saying citizens and legal permanent residents (green card holders) get UBI. Others do not (note that this includes non-immigrant work visa holders, like H-1Bs), though in the odd case of a non-UBI-eligible (but legally present) parent with a UBI-eligible child, the parent would be eligible to draw the child's UBI, just as a parent with their own UBI eligibility with a UBI-eligible child would. > What about citizen children of non-citizens who are in the nation illegally? That's...trickier. My preference would be that the citizen child would get an allotment, but that the guardian would have to normalize status to draw that allotment. The details of that are more for a discussion of immigration policy than UBI policy though. An even trickier question is non-resident citizens, and particularly non-resident U.S. citizen children of non-resident non-citizens.