Simulation of a basic income - Institute of Public Policies

Context

In 2016, the idea of a basic income – also known as a universal basic income – gained traction, from the ‘Sirugue report’ in April – which proposed merging the various social safety-net benefits and extending this new benefit to adults under the age of 25 – to the report published in October 2016 by a Senate fact-finding mission, which proposed trialling an unconditional income.

In France, household income surveys do not provide a direct insight into the lower end of the income distribution, and consequently make it difficult to carry out microsimulations of such reforms.

Presentation

This project has a twofold objective. The first is to take stock of the data available in France on low-income individuals and households, and to statistically link different data sources in order to obtain a better representation of the lower end of the income distribution in France. The second objective is to use these ‘reconstructed’ data to simulate various scenarios for the introduction of a basic income, using the TAXIPP microsimulation model developed by the IPP. More specifically, the study will examine various reforms involving the merging of social minima and benefits. This microsimulation exercise will enable an assessment, for each reform studied, of its redistributive effects and the various financing options.

Research Team

This project is led by the pole Tax system.

Mahdi Ben Jelloul

Sophie Cottet

Brice Fabre

Claire Leroy

Antoine Bozio

Publication

On 6 June 2018, a conference dedicated to basic income was held on the theme: ‘From utopia to experimentation’. (Visit the conference page)

Download the summary of this report

On 6 April 2017, a conference was held on the following theme: ‘Universal basic income: between utopia and practice’ (Go to the conference page).

To download the April 2017 presentation ‘Towards a basic income? Options, costing and redistributive effects’ as a PDF, follow this link.

On 23 May 2017, a conference was held on the following topic: ‘How can we better protect working people from the risk of loss of income or insufficient income?’ (Go to the conference page).

To download the May 2017 presentation ‘Towards a basic income? Options, costing and redistributive effects’ as a PDF, follow this link