The health case for basic income

The idea of a universal basic income has had some prominence in recent years – with the Greens committed to phasing it in in their 2019 manifesto, and Labour pledging to trial it in their manifesto that year. It gained prominence again in 2020 when Covid started, with many MPs calling for it in response to the crisis. There is now a briefing on the idea in the House of Lords library. Can it work? We run Basic Income Health, a long-term interdisciplinary project based at Northumbria University to find out whether the policy is politically and financially feasible, looking at the link between health and income, and assessing Basic Income’s possible health, social and economic benefits.