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COVID-19 and welfare state support: the case of universal basic income
[Attitudinal polarization towards the redistributive role of the state in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis]

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  • David Weisstanner

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revived discussions about universal basic income (UBI) as a potential crisis response. Yet despite favorable circumstances, little actual policy change in this area was observed. This article seeks to explain this absence of policy change and to reflect on the prospects for introducing UBI schemes after the pandemic in European democracies. I argue that public opinion on UBI provides few electoral incentives to push for social policy change. Using prepandemic data from 21 European democracies and pandemic data from the UK, I show that political support for UBI has been divided between different groups who advocate conflicting policy goals and who hold divergent views about existing welfare state arrangements. While support for UBI might have increased during the pandemic, the underlying political dividing lines are likely to have remained intact. Due to these enduring divisions and the stable support for existing social policy arrangements over an untested policy, the prospects for introducing UBI schemes in the post-pandemic world remain uncertain.

Suggested Citation

  • David Weisstanner, 2022. "COVID-19 and welfare state support: the case of universal basic income [Attitudinal polarization towards the redistributive role of the state in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(1), pages 96-110.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:polsoc:v:41:y:2022:i:1:p:96-110.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/polsoc/puab015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Miqdad Asaria & Joan Costa-Font & Frank Cowell, 2023. "How does exposure to COVID-19 influence health and income inequality aversion?," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 61(3), pages 625-647, October.
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    6. Daniel Nettle & Elliott Johnson & Matthew Johnson & Rebecca Saxe, 2021. "Why has the COVID-19 pandemic increased support for Universal Basic Income?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Van Hootegem, Arno & Laenen, Tijs, 2022. "A wave of support? A natural experiment on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the popularity of a basic income," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Online Fi, pages 1-1.

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