Covid -19 and inequality
the ‘gig’ economy, and other forms of low -quality work. 56 To protect these workers from in-work poverty, I propose Milton Friedman’s ‘negative income tax’ 57 as a complement to existing welfare measures. This would ensure that workers cannot make less than a set amount (which should be higher than unemployment benefits in order to encourage work), and seems to me a more targeted version of UBI, reversing inequality by providing workers with an income safety net. It could be funded by taxing firms that have a large part of their labour force on zero-hour contracts. As Winston Churchill once said, ‘ Never let a good crisis go to waste. ’ This is definitely the case. As low- wage sectors take a permanent hit, the government has an opportunity to rebuild the economy with higher-paying industries, hence reducing inequality. But, to achieve this, we need to start by equipping workers with greater skills, and collect the funds to do so.
56 Mayhew Ken, and Paul Anand ‘Covid -19 and the UK labour market .’ Oxford Review of Economic Policy , graa017, June 202): 9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7313832/. 57 Milton Friedman ‘Capitalism and Freedom.’ University of Chicago Press, Ltd. London. originally published 1962. Chapter 12.
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