The Benefits Of Universal Basic Income For Canadians

Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors said“Robotics will take away most people’s jobs, so a universal income is the only solution.” Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates have also made similar comments to Elon’s, depicting an autonomous future that will take over jobs such as factory workers, and couriers to name a few. As more people loose their jobs to autonomy, and fewer students are able to complete their education due to not having enough income to live off while studying, the government must take action and implement a service that will help the working class from dipping below the poverty line, aid students in successfully completing their studies to secure a higher paying job, and help seniors who aren’t earning enough from their pension to live a comfortable retirement. Different cities in different countries around the world have tested the waters of a UBI by implementing “pilot” programs into different communities and have seen the benefit it gives to the people who’re in the lower class, especially the younger people, students, who are barely getting by working minimum wage with minimal hours due to schooling.

Canada had previously tested out a UBI plan before, dating back to mid 1970’s in the small town of Dauphin, Manitoba. There, the plan that Canada had introduced as a pilot provided the towns people with a guaranteed annual income. The government would top up whatever income a person would make monthly, giving the people of Dauphin a secure income, and preventing anyone in the town from falling below the poverty line. The “top off” tactic that the Canadian government had suggested, dubbed “Mincome”, would have the government fill in the gap between what the person is earning per month and a threshold that was considered a “liveable wage.” The data collected showed that there was a rise in teens who graduated high school with the help of the UBI, allowing them to continue their education, therefore showing that it will benefit the next generation, as much as it helps the retiree generation who’s pension pays out less than a livable wage. The goal for this experiment was to record how the UBI impacted the community of Dauphin, and answer the looming questions most politicians had. Would this program stop people from working? Is free money with no strings attached really the best way to get people out of the mud? The data showed that the majority of people that stopped working were mothers, and teenage boys, which was a positive outcome, showing that the male bread winners of the house, who had also slightly reduced their hours, but were now making enough income to support their families, allowed their wives to stay at home to raise their children. As for the teenage boys, they now had the time to complete their studies instead of having to work to support their families, improving the overall quality of life for everyone.

Finland had implemented a UBI of their own, that went into effect on January 2017, that would pay out €560/per month to a few randomly-selected unemployed citizens until December 2018. Their goal was to see if the citizens would use that income to take a higher risk into finding a new job by helping fill the gap that people would have to face if they dedicated the majority of their time to finding their next job, and rise above the poverty threshold. Although the data reported the citizens were happier and experienced less stress, the number of unemployed citizens hardly shifted. Economics writer Grace Blakely makes this point in the New Socialist, adding that 'without fundamental structural reforms to our economic system, UBI will only be a sticking plaster papering over the cracks”. This outcome, along with other UBI plans from other countries showed that there must be numerous pilots implemented with different strategies before a nation wide UBI is to be introduced anywhere in the world. A UBI would be of far greater help than some of the aid programs Canada currently offers, such as welfare. The welfare system of Canada is broken, it creates a “poverty trap” by restricting the amount of hours a person can work before being penalized, leaving that person to become dependant on the government, restricting said person from progressing to live a successful and independent life. Hugh Segal, principal of Massey College said “Poverty is a perfect and accurate predictor of bad health, early hospital entry and longer stays, substance abuse, family violence and poor educational outcomes.” When researches looked back on the data collected from Dauphin, it showed that hospital visits declined, student’s high school completion rose, and the overall quality of life positively increased for everyone, making the path a little bit clearer for politicians that decide on how to build a nation wide UBI. Data from other countries have also shown their UBI’s had a positive effect on mental health, out view on life, leading to less overall stress, which would directly affect Hugh Segal’s statements.

A UBI would also be beneficial in that it will remove the stigma and restrictions welfare programs carry by equalizing the field and giving everyone a proper chance to lead successful and less stressful life, and freely choose what they wills spend their income on. By providing people more freedom and feeling of security, their spending will become less restricted and they will be more inclined to spend their income on items such as groceries, or good and services which in return reimburses the money back into the economy, boosting the overall economy.