Could Brazil launch a Universal Basic Income?

Almost overnight, the coronavirus pandemic made income support a necessity in countries all over the world. Kept at home due to social isolation measures, workers have faced layoffs and wage cuts as the entire economy buckles under the pressure of the health emergency. In Brazil, the need for some form of benefits scheme was felt immediately by the tens of millions of workers in the informal sector, who virtually lost their work and income from one day to the next.

The Brazilian government’s response has been to launch a BRL 600 (USD 112) monthly stipend to informal workers, single mothers, and so-called “individual microentrepreneurs,” who are self-employed small-business owners. While fraught with delay and error, the program has successfully transferred much-needed income to vulnerable populations, so much so that there is now a call to make it permanent, as a form of Universal Basic Income.

Discussions over Universal Basic Income, or UBI, have sprouted worldwide in recent years. The driving force behind these debates is the profound change to the global job market, with automation accelerating dramatically and several manual professions becoming obsolete. If the trend continues, there may be less work and a bigger reliance on benefit programs.

Though once treated as a fantasy, UBI is a very real issue, even becoming a policy point in the current U.S. elections.

However, the natural course of the debate was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The need for income support is no longer a problem for the future, it has become an immediate issue.

Guedes says ‘no way’ to UBI

However, the likelihood of an imminent UBI in Brazil is close to nil, thanks...