This post was originally published on this site
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Federal stimulus checks that helped millions of Americans weather the initial months of the COVID-19 crisis have resurfaced calls for adopting universal basic income.
Countries as diverse as Canada, Finland and Namibia are exploring the idea—and the concept drew attention in the U.S. when presidential candidate Andrew Yang proposed giving $1,000 a month to every adult. But this renewed focus on adopting a government program to provide unconditional payments to every adult citizen misses the point.
It’s a short-term fix. Over the long haul, such a program won’t help workers affected by the accelerating changes roiling the U.S. labor market.
We need work.
American workers say that finding meaning in their jobs and careers is essential to happiness and life satisfaction—and it’s more important in the long term than money. According to a recent Gallup survey, “Enjoying their day-to-day work, having stable and predictable pay, and having a sense of purpose each rate more highly than level of pay among U.S. workers’ criteria for job quality—even among those in the bottom 20 percent of incomes.”
Our tax dollars would be better spent better readying American adults for human work of the future as automation, artificial intelligence, robots, and other smart machines take a larger role in the American workplace. People need incomes to support their families, sure. But work offers something they consistently say is more important—meaning, dignity, and a sense of larger purpose.
This may be why few in this country enthusiastically embrace the idea of paying people regardless of whether they are working. Until a few months ago, the idea of the government paying everyone a salary was of interest only to a few economists and think tank analysts. Few experts considered it realistic.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed that, as millions of workers found themselves jobless in a matter of weeks and Congress spent trillions of dollars to shore up the economy. Months later, interest in universal basic income is once again rising—especially as the positive economic effects of that initial assistance wane and hope for any additional stimulus now looks bleak until after the election.
Nonetheless, rising interest isn’t the same as political acceptance.
A recent Pew survey shows most Americans oppose providing a guaranteed income for every adult. Not surprisingly, attitudes toward universal basic income divide along party lines, with Republicans vehemently opposed to universal basic income and Democrats moderately supportive.
Pandemic aside, support for universal basic income has largely been based on the idea that technology and AI will make millions of jobs disappear and that work itself will eventually become obsolete for many.
But history belies this fear. For centuries, technology has always tended to create more jobs than it has eliminated—different types of jobs, of course, but work itself hasn’t disappeared.
It never will.
The government should provide temporary financial help to those who face economic disruption. And no one in this nation should endure long-term homelessness or poverty.
Instead of viewing universal basic income as a possible panacea, we should focus effort and resources on making sure everyone has the chance to do meaningful work and be fairly compensated for their efforts.
This means investing in a comprehensive public system for continuous learning that everyone will need—throughout their careers—to stay nimble, adaptable, and employable. We can no longer look at “education” and “training” as separate things offered in discrete systems. Rather, we need one system in which all learning counts, whether obtained in the classroom, on the job, in the military or elsewhere.
We also must recognize that what people need to learn has changed.
RosettaBooks
Much work of the future will involve helping and serving others—using technology and other resources to understand and help solve people’s problems. Smart, AI-enhanced machines will help, but they can’t do the “human work” that is increasingly vital in these roles. They can’t think critically, reason ethically, interact personally, or serve others with empathy. Colleges and universities should focus on preparing students by helping them hone these uniquely human skills.
We also need more money and support for community colleges, which are the backbone of training in the United States that leads to short-term credentials with labor market value. They are preparing people to work alongside smart machines, doing tasks that cannot be automated away. They’re the tasks we need to perform, as humans, because they help us find meaning in our work.
Even though AI-enhanced technology is extending its reach in fields such as health care, education, retail, and hospitality, that doesn’t make people obsolete. Quite the opposite: Human interaction is more vital than ever—in virtually every job.
Basic income can provide a modicum of financial security. But cash transfers can’t foster the meaning that people need to feel connected to their communities and their neighbors. Or the meaning that binds us as Americans. That’s why enabling people to find satisfying work, especially work in service of others, will always matter more.
Now read: The case for paying every American a dividend on the nation’s wealth
Jamie Merisotis is president and CEO of Lumina Foundation and the author of “Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines.”
