A basic income must be Universal to solve – it values citizenship and government responsibility, it is the easiest to implement and has the most public support.

When discussing social security policy, universalism implies universal entitlement, that is, benefits are available to everyone with no qualifying test such as paid contributions or the demonstration of need. A program of universal benefits would involve the granting of benefit to every citizen, financed from general taxation. The Link between contribution and receipt is indirect, in that although citizens contribute to the program through their individual tax liability, payment of taxes is not a condition of entitlement and subsequently there is no barrier to entitlement for nontaxpayers. Universal programs are therefore based on the notion of common citizenship and the principle of government responsibility in securing independent income guarantees. Universalism is hence associated with comprehensive coverage and ease of delivery. The rationale for universal entitlement is quite distinct from that for contributory entitlement. The principle of universal coverage was the principal reason the Beveridge scheme (in the UK) benefited from widespread public support. The Beveridge model of social insurance based on flat rate benefits, flat rate contributions, and universal coverage encapsulates a particular principle of universalism—selective egalitarian universalism. The other main type of universal provision extant in contemporary western industrial societies could be called categorical universalism—paid to all members of a particular demographic category with no other qualifying test than belonging to the selected category. Noncontributory, non-means-tested benefits paid for children and to the elderly, for example, child benefit in the UK, and, until recently, old age security in Canada, are currently the closest approximation to a universal system of social security. Defining a Citizens Basic Income The characteristics that distinguish a basic income scheme from any existing mechanism of state supported cash transfer are the principles of universal and unconditional entitlement.