What is a universal basic income?

Presented By
CPP Investments | Investissements RPC
What is universal basic income? Why do you need to know this definition? The MoneySense Glossary is your resource for learning and understanding financial terms.
Presented By
CPP Investments | Investissements RPC
What is universal basic income? Why do you need to know this definition? The MoneySense Glossary is your resource for learning and understanding financial terms.
Universal basic income (UBI)—also known as basic income guarantee, basic living stipend, guaranteed annual income or a universal income security program—is a government program that would give all adult citizens in a given jurisdiction an agreed-upon monthly or yearly sum of money. The idea is to provide security to the recipients, help alleviate poverty and reduce the strain on social programs.
Several countries have tested UBI, including Canada, Brazil, Kenya, Germany and Finland. Finland, for example, gave participants 560 euros ($804 CAD) per month. The support behind a universal basic income has grown but so have arguments against it.
Example: “Finland ran a year-long UBI program from 2017 to 2018.”
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