Chris Giles is right to warn about the fiscal burden a universal basic income would inflict on an economy without conveying that many people have enough income not to worry (“Universal basic income: the bad idea that never quite dies”, Opinion, July 27). For the mistake advocates of UBI make is to ignore the political and economic realities.
Better to think of a small sum of money as an income supplement (reverse of a tax) given to a minority of citizens whose lives would thereby be improved.
I have proposed in my recent book Poverty of Political Economy, a weekend allowance of £100 for all women on the voting register. The rationale is that women perform unpaid work in the household such as childcare, elderly care, cooking and cleaning. It would relieve their lives if they received a weekend bonus. It may also alleviate the worst forms of poverty.
My proposal does not claim to be a universal basic income. Its aim is not to supplant the welfare state. But it rewards unpaid work performed by women without which life would be truly miserable for many if not all of them.
Meghnad (Lord) Desai
House of Lords, London SW1, UK
