Can basic income solve America’s baby bust?

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.

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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