A Universal Basic Income Might Hurt Poor People More Than Help
βIn a new working paper, economists Hilary W. Hoynes and Jesse Rothstein, both of whom have extensively studied the social safety net in America, take a look at the costs, distributional effects, and possible labor-market effects of UBI programs in advanced economies with existing social safety nets. They find, in line with many of the most prominent criticisms of the UBI, that such programs, if they were truly universal, would indeed be very expensive and, in comparison to the existing social safety net, would likely redirect spending to better-off families, potentially leaving low-income families worse off than they currently are.β