3 ms·

I was thinking about UBI the other day, and was unable to reconcile how it could work given people have different needs. For example, 'the poverty line' here is

I was thinking about UBI the other day, and was unable to reconcile how it could work given people have different needs. For example, 'the poverty line' here is just under $24,000/yr. But someone on disability support may well be getting $70,000/yr or more to pay for special needs (real example of MS sufferer). With a 'proper' UBI, other forms of welfare would disappear to help pay for it, which would require giving everyone $70,000/yr (or leaving the disabled to their fate). And at triple the current poverty line UBI, getting the in-home help necessary to survive independently would likely be impossible as care industry workers are already in short supply. So we would need to retain at least disability support, and have a much lower UBI, probably below the poverty line. And we would likely still need everyone not on disability support to work, to drag their income up to at least the poverty line so they can survive with some dignity. So without full employment, we would need unemployment benefits as well. In which case, what has the UBI given us? Maybe we just need less wasteful and more compassionate unemployment, disability and aged care support? Or maybe things change when we consider hereditary wealth? With a below poverty line UBI, middle and upper classes could survive and maybe live quite comfortably with the income boost from investments, with the lower classes having to work to earn enough to pay their landlords.

mistrial9 2y ago
no this is unconstructive as it gets even worse than your example with special medical needs .. the way this evens out in that case is to expand the capacity of medical treatment such that they can provide acceptable intervention and monitoring for the special needs person.. A different angle is that somehow, in the West, the family unit has been morphed into something in the background.. many places in the world with dense populations rely on extended and long term family definitions to accommodate basic needs and special circumstances for individuals
- stubish 2y ago
  So keep disability and aged care support, but drop all other welfare in favor of a UBI at around the poverty line or higher if budget allows? I can now see that working, and needing to pay care workers much more to get enough willing participants is probably a good thing. I don't think we can rely on family or extended family any more. Even in countries with strong extended family and community support structures, people get left behind. And usually the people who need the most support, with mental illness or addiction or social problems driving others away.

mistrial9 2y ago

no this is unconstructive as it gets even worse than your example with special medical needs .. the way this evens out in that case is to expand the capacity of medical treatment such that they can provide acceptable intervention and monitoring for the special needs person.. A different angle is that somehow, in the West, the family unit has been morphed into something in the background.. many places in the world with dense populations rely on extended and long term family definitions to accommodate basic needs and special circumstances for individuals

stubish 2y ago
So keep disability and aged care support, but drop all other welfare in favor of a UBI at around the poverty line or higher if budget allows? I can now see that working, and needing to pay care workers much more to get enough willing participants is probably a good thing. I don't think we can rely on family or extended family any more. Even in countries with strong extended family and community support structures, people get left behind. And usually the people who need the most support, with mental illness or addiction or social problems driving others away.