News Nation
Andrew Yang loves it. Elon Musk does, too. So do Alaskans.
Now babies may become its biggest fans.
It is the universal basic income: the concept of giving everyone a flat government payment every year.
A study recently published in the journal Social Forces looked at Alaska’s universal basic income: the Permanent Fund Dividend. Since 1982, the state of Alaska has used oil royalties to make investments and finance the fund.
The study found that these payments, once they reach a certain level, increase Alaska’s birth rate.
This is a new benefit in the debate over universal basic income at a time when Americans are having fewer children. Lower birth dates can slow economic growth. In 2020, the country’s fertility rate hit a record low. Births rose only slightly in 2021 after declining for seven years.
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