Reference no: EM133714918

Assignment:

Read the extract below, which is a call for a new social guarantee in Britain. Then, drawing upon module material as well as the extract, answer the following three questions.

1. Define what is meant by a universal basic income. Outline one advantage and one disadvantage of a universal basic income for individual well-being.

2. Define what is meant by universal basic services. Explain how universal basic services differ from a universal basic income.

3. Outline what is meant by opportunity cost. Then use the concept of opportunity cost to discuss the claim made in the extract that government needs to implement both a universal basic income and universal basic services.

Extract: Britain needs a new social guarantee

As Britain's economy and society gradually reopen, we face big questions about what should come next. The chancellor has promised tax rises and spending cuts. Without a radical response, increases in poverty, unemployment and inequality will be inevitable outcomes of the Covid crisis.

What's needed now is a social guarantee that enshrines every person's right to life's essentials. Most people will agree what these essentials are: education, healthcare, a decent home, care, food, clean air and water, energy, transport and (these days) access to the internet. To ensure everyone has these essentials, people must have a fair living income and access to public services that meet their needs.

We expect to pay for some necessities ourselves. Food is an obvious example, so everyone must have enough money to afford a nutritious diet. There are other essentials that most of us couldn't afford on our own. Think of education, healthcare, childcare and adult social care. Here, we ensure everyone has access by sharing responsibility, pooling resources and acting together. Without providing these services collectively through public institutions, we would need vast amounts of cash to meet all of our needs.

Some people in policy circles have spent too long arguing whether "universal basic income" (UBI) or "universal basic services" (UBS) ought to be our preferred goal. But in fact we need both. Without public services, many people wouldn't be able to afford to pay for their healthcare or education, and without a guaranteed income floor below which nobody can fall, far too many people would be condemned to poverty.

It's best to think of these things as two sides of a coin. On one side, we want to make sure that everyone has a secure and sufficient income. This would minimise the humiliation of claiming benefits, and reflect the reality that peoples' income levels vary dramatically according to their different jobs, needs and conditions. This calls for generous cash payments available according to need, through a system that is open-hearted and empowering, not hostile or begrudging.

On the other side of the coin are the services that are essential to live a good life, which people don't pay for directly. These are worth much more to people on low incomes, so they help to reduce inequalities. They've been gravely undermined by a decade of austerity and will be in even greater danger if the vast costs of Covid-19 are used to justify more spending cuts. So they need defending, extending and transforming.