CITIZENS OR WORKERS? BASIC INCOME VS. WELFARE-TO-WORK POLICIES

In this paper I intend to show how the idea of an unconditional income guarantee (or Basic Income) is directly embodied within the moral intuitions which underlie the political traditions that built the modern welfare state. I shall give some reasons why this guarantee should not be subjected to any kind of work condition, such as those which are required by present workfare and welfare-to-work policies. These policies, unlike Basic Income, try to intensify the link between employment and the right to cash benefits. My thesis is that, in present socio-economic conditions, it is much more equitable and efficient to uncouple income support from employment. I will develop this thesis against the sophisticated defence of reciprocity and welfare-to-work policies made recently by Stuart White in his book The Civic Minimum (2003).