Alternatives to a Citizen’s Basic Income

Abstract

This chapter examines three policy proposals with characteristics similar to those of a Citizen's Basic Income: Negative Income Tax, genuine Tax Credits and Participation Income. It first considers the Tax Credits scheme proposed by the UK's Conservative government in 1972, and which was close to a genuine Tax Credits scheme before discussing Negative Income Tax and the problems that it entails. It then describes Negative Income Tax experiments with interesting outcomes that have clear implications for the current debate on the Citizen's Basic Income approach to tax and benefits reform. It also looks at Participation Income and the issues that it raises before concluding with an analysis of the outcomes that would be created by an increase in the value of National Insurance Benefits compared to the outcomes of a Citizen's Basic Income.