A wave of support? A natural experiment on how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the popularity of a basic income

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9537490
AutoresArno Van Hootegem (0000-0002-9559-8038, KU Leuven, autor de correspondencia), Tijs Laenen (0000-0002-4705-196X, Tilburg University)
Año2023
Volumen58
Número3
Páginas695-713
Fecha de publicación2023-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaActa Politica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0001-6810 • E-ISSN: 1741-1416
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/s41269-022-00260-9
PMID40477998
OpenAlexW4302009494
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas30

Although a basic income (BI) has already been widely debated, the COVID-19 crisis further intensified the discussion about this periodic cash payment that is unconditionally delivered to all. However, it remains unclear whether the crisis spurred a wave of public support for its introduction. To investigate this, we aim to answer two research questions: (1) How did support for a BI evolve in reaction to the COVID-19 crisis? and (2) To what extent did the evolution in support differ across regional contexts and social groups with varying levels of deprivation? We rely on a natural experiment by analysing data from the Belgian National Elections Study that was collected both before and during the pandemic. The results indicate an increase in support for a BI due to the pandemic, although it seems short lived and not necessarily specific to a BI. Importantly, however, the increase in popularity is only observable in the high-unemployment French-speaking region of Belgium and among relatively deprived groups

Basic income · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Natural (archaeology · Natural experiment · Pandemic · Political science · Popularity · Public economics · Unemployment · Employment and Welfare Studies · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Law · Medicine · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Capital and Networks · Social Policy and Reform Studies