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Prospects For A Universal Basic Income In New Zealand, Keith Rankin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

New Zealand is a small liberal capitalist country with a history of egalitarian values and political reform—including the early introduction of universal welfare benefits—and with an uncomplicated relatively flat income tax structure. As such, it has sometimes been seen as a "social laboratory," a theme of writing about New Zealand and of New Zealand social historians. It therefore has all of the elements in place that could make New Zealand a candidate to become a world leader in integrating income tax and social welfare regimes into a form of universal basic income. Nevertheless, through a combination of intellectual inertia, media …