Basic income is the answer to a COVID-stricken economy
People are worried about their health, their loved ones, and their future. They’re worried about paying the bills next week.
Experts are telling governments to get money into people’s pockets immediately to blunt the economic hardship from the COVID-19 crisis.
What we need in these unprecedented times is a dose of economic solidarity that will ensure no one falls through the cracks.
It’s time for an emergency basic income to ensure hundreds of thousands of Canadians don’t fall through the cracks.
Perhaps, like other plans that are drawn up in a crisis, we’ll discover that it makes sense to keep a basic income once this particular emergency is over.
Because COVID-19 won’t be the last major setback to the Canadian economy.
The next time it could be a devastating shock from the climate crisis or a big technological shift that displaces workers.
To many, a universal basic income used to sound far-flung or radical. Now it just might be the most rational thing we can do for Canadians.
