Everyone wants to end poverty. The controversy begins when you start talking about how to solve the problem. One solution which has received a lot of media attention lately is the concept of basic income or guaranteed annual income. In Ontario, former senator Hugh Segal is due to release a report which will guide the Ontario government in developing a pilot project around basic income.
To help us better understand the costs and consequences of a guaranteed income program, I talked with David McDonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The CCPA has released a detailed study on basic income called A Policymaker's Guide to Basic Income.
We asked David to describe the concept of basic income:
The idea is that cash transfers are a way that we can alleviate poverty and have other beneficial effects. And the idea of basic income is that you get a cash transfer that you didn’t have to apply for or the application for it is fairly minimal.
On today’s show we explore the pros and cons of a basic income for all Canadians, and explore other solutions to poverty.
