author

Sidhya Balakrishnan

Research Lead, Jain Family Institute

Primary income-support welfare programs that could be consolidated into a single basic income include: earned income tax credit (EITC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), temporary assistance for needy families (TANF), and supplemental security income (SSI). Trapezoidal income support structures (like the Earned Income Tax Credit) may fail as an economy-wide stabilizer during periods of economic recession. Relative to annual payments, more frequent, periodic payments of the EITC indicates that periodic payments reduce perceived financial stress, diminish debt accumulation and late fees, and improve mental health. Welfare programs can be split into two categories: “income support”, or “insurance”. Basic income is, in theory, the best way to provide income support. US welfare runs on disaggregated systems that do not share an integrated database, making nationwide eligibility identification difficult. A data sharing agreement between the IRS and SSA could implement a near-universal program.
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