Universal Basic Income and contemporary welfare policy reform

This postdoctoral funding allowed Dr Will Stronge to translate and apply his PhD research to impact the prominent discussion of UBI in the context of contemporary debates around social security policy and welfare reform.

The fellowship facilitated a co-authored book, a policy briefing and a series of public and private engagements with stakeholders in the field of welfare policy and campaigning.

Universal Basic Income is an old idea that has made a huge impact in policy debates globally - with various trials of the policy either completed, underway or planned in the near future. In short, the policy proposes that the state distribute cash payments to all residents under its remit with minimal (or zero) conditionality; legal residents receive the payment whether you are working or not, independently of your financial situation.

Proponents of the policy point to its potential to improve the financial security of those workers facing an increasingly precarious labour market, its capacity to help mitigate some of the effects of automation and its possible impact on gender inequality.

Opponents of the policy point to its potential to further imbricate a financialised, possibly neoliberal, rationale into everyday life, as well as the potentially high costs of a UBI on the public purse.

A further policy question guided this project, involves framing Universal Basic Income as a reform to the system of welfare conditionality, which currently operates in the UK through the existing benefits system including Universal Credit (UC).

As part of its remit, this project examined this debate in light of PhD findings and the welfare policies' emergence since New Labour's reforms - showing a 'how we got here' policy story, which consolidated previous research into welfare policy history.

Universal Basic Income as a policy option has reemerged within a fertile and prolific period of academic work on welfare policy. Throughout ten years of austerity-driven public policy in the UK, a substantial body of evidence emerged via critical research into the impacts on the restructuring of social security services and welfare payment systems (including the development of UC).

There was a debate that not only highlighted the negative effects of the rollout of UC, but also threw the idea of welfare conditionality itself into question. Key questions revolved around the ethical and practical implications of basing the eligibility for social security support on a 'willingness to work', as compared to a a system of unconditional cash support (which UBI policy proffers).

Despite the potential for a cross-sector dialogue, the academic policy work on this topic - and the key researchers in the field - have been largely unconnected with the activities of the network of Universal Basic Income activists economists and policy organisations that are pursuing work on Universal Basic Income.

By 2021 this was beginning to change, with organisations such as the Basic Income Conversation starting to forge links between the UBI and welfare policy conversations.

I will produce three outputs: a book, a policy briefing and articles for various media outlets. Thus, fellowship will allow me to disseminate my work across various platforms to diverse audiences - from academic through to political and activist circles.