The concept of a universal basic income has existed for a long time, and has been tried out in parts of the world over the past few years. Canada is the most recent inclusion on that small list. The North American country decided to start a basic income pilot in three cities that fall under the state of Ontario. The beneficiaries of this basic income scheme will be 4000 low income earners, who will receive an annual income that varies depending on whether they are single, a couple or disabled. They are allowed to work, but will see a deduction of 0.5 of a dollar for every dollar that they earn.
What this scheme aims to do is to help people who have jobs but still don’t earn enough to get by. They end up depending on the system for healthcare, social programmes, government insurance etc. The government will be spending money for this, but it will apparently still be less than if they were spending it on other social welfare schemes. What remains to be seen is if this scheme does work, then it could be applied to many other parts of the world where poverty is rampant. Could this be the answer to the world’s poverty problems?
