The New Yorker
Biden’s Stimulus Plan Contains an Experiment in Universal Basic Income
The $1.9-trillion pandemic-relief bill recently signed by President Biden offers a variety of benefits intended to address economic hardship caused by the pandemic, including an expanded, fully refundable child tax credit, worth $3,600 for each child under age six and $3,000 for those aged six to seventeen. The credit resembles much debated proposals around universal basic income, which would send cash to families every month to help them get by. Lessons from the 2008 financial crisis, the Trump Presidency, and the pandemic have changed what policymakers are willing to try.
“It signals a turn in the way that we approach alleviating poverty and supporting the unpaid care work of women that makes the economy move,” Amy Castro-Baker, researcher of economic mobility and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy & Practice told The New Yorker in a recent profile.