Nearly half of Britons support introducing a universal basic income, but only a quarter think the government could afford it
In recent years, universal basic income (UBI) has been a frequently touted, and increasingly tested, solution to a range of societal issues – advocates argue the government giving everybody a set basic level of income could improve their quality of life, reduce poverty and redress many people’s work-life balance in the face of technological advance. A recently completed three-year study in America has found that, although it does increase flexibility for recipients, the ultimate impact maybe somewhat more muted than proponents argue.
But regardless of the findings of pilot schemes, Britons still tend to be supportive of a universal basic income and optimistic about its potential effects. Nearly half of Britons (46%) support the idea of introducing a basic income in the UK, against a third (33%) opposing such a programme.
Support is strongest among Labour voters, six in ten of whom (61%) support the policy, with a majority of Lib Dems (54%) also positive towards it. UBI proves less popular on the right, with only three in ten Reform UK voters (31%) and just one in five Conservatives (21%) supporting its introduction in the UK.
This 13 point national lead in favour of UBI represents a contraction of the 20 point lead it had two years ago when a YouGov Eurotrack study found Britain to have the lowest levels of opposition to the idea among seven major western European countries, though outright support was marginally higher in Germany, Italy and Spain.
Among the nearly half of Britons who are supportive of a universal basic income, there is an even split in terms of what would be an appropriate level for such a scheme. Half (50%) say that it should be at a level that would pay for a person’s basic living costs, even with no other form of income, while 45% of supporters say it should only cover some living costs, with an expectation it would be supplemented by other income streams.
What impact do Britons expect a universal basic income would have?
But beyond tending to support the basic idea of a universal income, many Britons also expect such a policy would have positive societal effects. Half of Britons (50%) believe UBI would improve the quality of life in the UK, compared to just one in seven (14%) thinking it would worsen it; while 52% expect it would reduce the levels of poverty in Britain, only 7% hold the view that a universal basic income would increase the number of people in poverty.
In terms of the likely economic impact, Britons are more divided – one in three (34%) expect that UBI would increase growth, one in four (25%) think it would make no major difference either way, and just over one in five (22%) believe it would reduce economic growth.
The partisan splits in terms of overall support carry over to these more specific attitudes towards universal basic income. Labour and Lib Dem voters overwhelmingly expect it to improve people’s quality of life (61-66%) and reduce poverty (63-69%), with few believing the introduction of UBI would worsen quality of life (8-9%) or increase rates of poverty (4-5%).
Conservative and Reform UK voters are less optimistic about basic income’s potential consequences, but this doesn’t translate into outright pessimism. In terms of quality of life, Conservatives split evenly, 28% believing UBI would improve and worsen quality of life, while Reform supporters are a little more likely to think it would increase (33%) than lower (25%) living standards. Around three in ten (30-32%) among both parties think it would make little difference.
While few on the right believe UBI would increase poverty (12-15%), the most common assumption with Conservative and Reform voters is that it would make no difference (45-46%), although a third (32-33%) do think it would reduce poverty rates.
When it comes to the impact of a universal basic income on work, there is no consensus among the British public. One in three Britons (34%) expect an introduction of UBI would lead to no real change in the number of people in work, while a similar 36% think fewer people would be in employment as a result of such a policy. One in six (16%), however, believe more people would be in work as a result.
For those who would remain in work, 45% believe they would be working about as much as they do now, while a third (35%) believe they would work fewer hours. Just 3% of Britons think people would work more hours under a basic income system.
Britons sceptical about the affordability of universal basic income
However, while the British public tend to support UBI in principle and think it would have positive side effects, they also believe the government could not afford to implement such a policy. Only a quarter of Britons (23%) think the UK government has the money to provide a basic income to its citizens, while a clear majority (56%) believe it is unaffordable in practice.
This view that a universal basic income would be inherently unaffordable is shared across the political spectrum – with majorities of Labour and Lib Dem voters (52-55%), two-thirds of Reform UK voters (68%) and eight in ten Conservatives (80%) viewing the policy as simply too expensive to implement.
Also notably, this is by some margin the largest change across these questions since they were last asked in May 2022. Back then, a third (35%) felt the UK could afford a basic income scheme, while 45% felt it was outside the realms of the government’s finances. This double-digit swing towards the unaffordable view likely reflects the growing view that public finances are in a poor state, 61% saying they were in a bad way last month.
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Photo: Getty
