Polly Toynbee ( Beveridge was cradle-to-grave: who could sell that these days? , 26 February) recommends focusing funds on child benefit as “the best investment for future national wellbeing”. What child benefit did was to convert a regressive system of child tax allowances – which gave more to rich families than to poor ones – into cash payments of the same amount per child to all. Similarly, what a universal basic income, which Toynbee rejects, could do is to convert our currently regressive tax allowances into a regular and reliable cash-in-hand payment for all adults. This would give everyone […]
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