ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to and discussion of the pros and cons to universal basic income, contrasting it with current forms of welfare policy (such as income support and means-tested subsidies). It examines how a universal basic income can help to combat the unemployment (or benefit) trap; provide a stimulus to engage in remunerated work; replace means-tested subsidies and remove disincentives to work; provide compensatory justice, and re-shape lax welfare policies to ones which are more stringent. This chapter introduces how the idea of a universal basic income has emerged, examining some of the problems of a capitalist economic system, and showing how a universal basic income might be emancipatory by potentially providing a redistributive safety net to all citizens of a given society. The chapter also lays out the general aims and objectives of the text on universal basic income and provides a breakdown and brief introduction of the forthcoming chapters in this book.
