Values and Beliefs, Welfare Evaluations, and Attitudes Towards a Universal Basic Income in Europe

This study investigates the determinants of public support for a universal basic income (UBI), using the European Social Survey Round 8 (2016), which is a cross-national survey that asked respondents for the first time whether or not they support a UBI scheme. Among the determinants, this article focuses on the three sets of factors: basic human values (universalism, benevolence, power, and achievement), beliefs about economic differences (economic individualism and economic fairness), and evaluations of current social benefits and services. The findings show that young, leftist, and economically vulnerable people who are unemployed or low-income earners are more supportive of UBI, as expected. Regarding the predictors of the values and beliefs, those who are in favor of enhancing equality in a broad sense are more likely to support UBI; those who support economic individualism and worry about a lack of work ethic and economic burden imposed by welfare policies are less likely to support UBI, as hypothesized. However, the results are unexpected that those who are more inclined to self-enhancement values (power and achievement) and targeted welfare policies are more supportive of UBI, which reveals that UBI is not just an egalitarian policy. <br>