Basic income and the labour market: Labour supply, precarious work and technological change

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the relationship between a basic income as a policy tool and the functioning of the labour market. I focus on three key areas where a basic income has been hypothesized to relate to labour markets: (i) through altering work decisions, (ii) as a response to predicted changes in work arising from technological change and (iii) as backstop that would allow workers to demand better working conditions and higher wages. I provide answers on the role or impact of a basic income in each area in the context of the current Canadian labour market. But a key focus in the paper is on the ways we could alter our labour market models to provide a better basis for debating the impacts of policies like a basic income in the context of a goal of moving toward a more just society.