Give Every Brit Under 55 £10,000 and Scrap Tax Reliefs, Report Says
- New report says Brits should be given £10,000
- For those under 55 to make up for changing job market
- Would be funded by taxes on tech giants
- Part of research into a Universal Basic Income
The Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce (RSA), has said that the government should give £10,000 to every person under the age of 55.
The idea would see two payments of £5,000 each be given out over a 2 year period, but also see certain benefits and tax reliefs cut at the same time.
Benefits that would be cut under the plan are Job Seeker’s Allowance, Child Benefit, and Tax Credits.
This comes after the Government has begun to reform the controversial Universal Credit benefits scheme last week.
The RSA has proposed this to compensate for how people’s jobs are changing, particularly in relation to more jobs being taken over by automation and robotics, which aren’t covered in the Government’s new employment protections.
Payments would come from a British sovereign wealth fund, and could be topped up by tech giants like Facebook and Apple, in exchange for using people’s data.
Applicants would only have to demonstrate how they plan on using the money, for example, retraining for a different vocation, and it would not be means tested.
People have also been struggling with jobs due to inflation rising faster than pay rises are given out, so extra money would be welcomed for many.
Anthony Painter, Director of the RSA’s Action and Research Centre, said, “The simple fact is that too many households are highly vulnerable to a shock in a decade of disruption, with storm clouds on the horizon if automation, Brexit, and an ageing population are mismanaged,
“Without a real change in our thinking, neither tweaks to the welfare state nor getting people into work alone, when the link between hard work and fair pay has broken, will help working people meet the challenges ahead.”
This would give Brits a Universal Basic Income, whether they are working or not.
What is a Universal Basic Income?
UBI is a proposed blanket payment to all, regardless of age or employment status, that would cover basic food and clothing costs.
The idea aims to reform the welfare state by providing a set payment to cover basic needs to all citizens.
Some economists think it would increase working age poverty, leaving more people with less spare cash due to higher taxes.
Will this plan be implemented?
Although a Conservative think tank has backed plans for some form of UBI, the Government hasn’t supported this recent proposal, or the concept of UBI.
A Government spokesperson said, “Our priority is to have a welfare system that supports those who work and cares for those who can’t while being fair to the taxpayer.
“Providing a universal basic income would not allow for the same targeted support that is tailored to meet individual needs.”
What do you think? Is this a good idea? Let us know in the comments!
The economy would be worse off in the long run. This will be an excuse for average prices to rise on the consumer price index for a longer time than the extra cash will even last. This is just a very temporary fix to a very permanent problem. The fundamental issue is the ease of manipulation on marginal relief by the huge tech giants to avoid taxation. The way to even the load on the working class is to make marginal relief more difficult to obtain by umbrella companies in multinational corporations. Economics is not for the faint hearted.
I think I'm being thick here. So my wife and I could get £10K a year each for doing nowt regardless of whether I was working or not but also apply for housing benefit etc? Where do I sign up?! But then I read MrJasonNewell's economics argument how it would make prices rise making the money eventually . Would that be a given? Can't argue with needing multinational corporations to pay the taxes they should be (closing the legal loopholes that allow them to avoid doing so).