The Many Faces of Universal Basic Income

As the debate on unconditional basic income, basic capital and cognate schemes matures, it has become necessary to rethink the idea of universalism in welfare policy. In this paper De Wispelaere (Lecturer in Equality Studies, University College Dublin) and Stirton (Lecturer in Law, University of East Anglia) argue that research should move beyond discussion of principles or ideal-type policy schemes, and get onto the details of concrete policy design and implementation. For the neglect of implementation issues risks impeding the political and administrative feasibility of universal basic income. To illustrate, the paper outlines seven dimensions along which concrete proposals vary, and suggests ways in which decisions on each dimension will determine the shape as well as the effects of the policy in practice