If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen a naysayer or two talk about how “Basic Income couldn’t work”. You’ve heard the misguided talking points about “people being lazy” or that it’s “bad for the economy”, or maybe even that “it raises taxes on the middle class”. 

Well, we have the data and we can tell you that those talking points aren’t based in reality. Decades of research already shows that Basic Income works, and we’re here to equip supporters like yourself with the right facts about Basic Income.

(Each link below goes to a short video with key points and a link to fuller factsheet.)

• ‍🤝 Basic Income helps working people, giving them the freedom to look for a better job, go back to school, or simply negotiate better work conditions. People spend more time volunteering and giving back to their communities.‍

• 💳 Basic Income helps small businesses and entrepreneurs, the backbone of a thriving economy. It gives people more freedom to take risks like starting a business. People spend it right back into their local economies, helping those businesses grow and hire more.‍

• 💖 Basic Income is incredibly good for people’s health. People who get a Basic Income eat healthier, exercise more, spend more time with family, and visit the doctor less. This means billions of dollars in savings to our healthcare system.‍

• 🤖 Basic Income helps those affected by automation, which has been melting wages and erasing jobs for over 50 years. It buys people the time they need to transition into the job market and economy of tomorrow.‍

• 💸 Basic Income could grow the economy more than it costs. A national Basic Income could grow the economy by $80B/year, create 600K jobs, and support working people and businesses – while lifting 3.2 million families out of poverty.‍

• 👶 In fact, we already have a Basic Income for families – the Canada Child Benefit – that’s growing the economy $2 for every $1 invested, keeping 250K families out of poverty, and contributing over 450K jobs.‍

• 💰 And yes, we can pay for it without taxing the vast majority of Canadians. TLDR: if your money comes from a paycheque, you likely won’t pay for it.

You can find all this research and more in our Basic Income Factsheet, which includes decades of data showing all of the wide-ranging benefits of Basic Income.

At UBI Works, our mission is to equip Canadians with evidence-based narratives that Basic Income is a good investment in Canadians and our economy, so that our politicians understand the true necessity and will work to make it reality.

I hope that this will be useful to you and other basic income supporters as it has been to me and other activists in our UBI Works community. Join me in spreading these talking points to even more people as we continue to push towards Basic Income in Canada.

‍

Floyd Marinescu, Founder of UBI Works