Furlough was a radical success. Now let’s talk about a universal basic income | Zoe Williams
Though imperfect, Covid support measures changed attitudes to those who have less money through no fault of their own
With an estimated 188,000 job vacancies in the hospitality industry, pub and restaurant owners are starting to complain about the furlough scheme – specifically, that it has made people lose the will to work. That is unlikely: furlough covered only 80% percent of wages, and given what a struggle it is to keep afloat even on 100% of a pay packet (17.4% of working households are now in relative poverty, the highest number this century), anyone on minimum wage would probably prefer work to furlough. Arguably, the million people who have left the UK since Brexit might have more to do with the labour shortage than our new collective indolence. Workers can always be found if the wages and conditions are right, so it’s possible that looking for the answers in the shortcomings of individual characters is a blind alley.
It’s interesting, though, because this is the argument always used against universal basic income (UBI): the radical idea of replacing some or all means-tested benefits with a tax-free, unconditional, non-contributory flat amount given to everyone in the country (including children, though at a reduced rate and paid to parents; most modelling puts this as a similar sum to child benefit, pre-coalition government). Why would anyone work if they didn’t have to? Before we get to the counter-arguments, both behavioural and practical, pause a moment to consider just how radical furlough has been.
