The social administration of Citizens Basic Income

This second chapter on social policy is in the ‘social administration’ tradition. After asking to whom Citizen’s Basic Incomes should be paid, and how they should be paid, it discusses the administration of Citizen’s Basic Income and similar schemes. The chapter compares the simplicity of administering Citizen’s Basic Income with the complex administrations of means-tested benefits, social insurance benefits, Negative Income Tax, Participation Income, and Job Guarantee, and finds that any household taken off means-tested benefits by their Citizen’s Basic Incomes would experience an increase in administrative simplicity. The ease of computerizing Citizen’s Basic Income is discussed. Means-tested benefits are found to experience substantial levels of error, fraud, and criminalization: problems that would not afflict Citizen’s Basic Income. Implementation of Citizen’s Basic Income scheme is discussed, as is a consultation on four implementation methods. The chapter contains conclusions relating to both Chapters 9 and 10.