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India needs a minimum income guarantee post-pandemic: the design and the cost

Author

Listed:
  • Santosh Mehrotra

    (IZA Institute of Labour Economics)

  • Rakesh Ranjan Kumar

    (JK Lakshmipat University)

  • Anjana Rajagopalan

    (The International Institute of Migration & Development)

Abstract

Amidst increasing joblessness and indebtedness presented by employment and debt surveys, a minimum standard of living for India’s poor is under threat. The exogenous shock of COVID-19 to the incomes of the poor has made the case for a minimum income guarantee urgent. Recent schemes inspired by universal basic income (UBI) debates have gathered momentum. Rather than a quasi-UBI doing away with existing developmental programmes, this paper makes a case for and presents the design of a better method of targeting transfers as a supplement to income from livelihoods, keeping fiscal and labour market outcomes in mind.

Suggested Citation

  • Santosh Mehrotra & Rakesh Ranjan Kumar & Anjana Rajagopalan, 2024. "India needs a minimum income guarantee post-pandemic: the design and the cost," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 26(1), pages 1-25, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:26:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s40847-023-00261-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s40847-023-00261-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Puja Dutta & Stephen Howes & Rinku Murgai, 2010. "Small but effective: India's targeted unconditional cash transfers," ASARC Working Papers 2010-18, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.
    2. Binswanger, Hans P, 1981. "Attitudes toward Risk: Theoretical Implications of an Experiment in Rural India," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 91(364), pages 867-890, December.
    3. Santosh Mehrotra & Jajati K. Parida, 2021. "Stalled Structural Change Brings an Employment Crisis in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(2), pages 281-308, June.
    4. Andy Sumner & Christopher Hoy & Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez, 2020. "Estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global poverty," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-43, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Universal Basic Income; Conditional Cash Transfer; Minimum Income Guarantee;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General

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