Universal inheritance or basic inheritance is a proposal for all
citizen
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
s, upon reaching a
certain age, to receive an economic
endowment
Endowment most often refers to:
*A term for human penis size
It may also refer to: Finance
*Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment)
*Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...
from the
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
.
From
heterodox economic perspectives, inheritance has been criticized both from a historical standpoint, as property and inequality in its distribution couldn't be understood without the
original accumulation of capital; and from an ethical and justice standpoint, as no human being would have the right to greater
ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...
over Earth's wealth solely by the circumstance of being born into one family or another.
In this manner, universal inheritance has been proposed as a way to offset wealth distribution inequality, funded through
progressive tax
A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...
es.
The first proposal for universal inheritance was made by
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
in 1795, although similar measures have been proposed in different countries and historical moments since then.
Among the criticisms of this measure is the fact that it's proposed as an inheritance for all citizens, regardless of their economic status. Additionally, it could lead to a reduction in the effort of young individuals to educate themselves and contribute through their work to the
well-being
Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative ''to'' someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good ''for'' this person, what is in th ...
of the entire society.
See also
*
Capital accumulation
Capital accumulation is the dynamic that motivates the pursuit of profit, involving the investment of money or any financial asset with the goal of increasing the initial monetary value of said asset as a financial return whether in the form o ...
*
Citizen's dividend
Citizen's dividend is a proposed policy based upon the Georgist principle that the natural world is the common property of all people. It is proposed that all citizens receive regular payments (dividends) from revenue raised by leasing or taxing ...
*
Grant (money)
A grant is a funding, fund given by an end entity grant – often a Government, public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a ...
*
Job guarantee
A job guarantee is an economic policy proposal that aims to provide a sustainable solution to inflation and unemployment. Its aim is to create full employment and price stability by having the state promise to hire unemployed workers as an emplo ...
*
Living wage
A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labor ...
*
Participation income
Participation income (PI) is a method of delivering unemployment benefits by creating socially useful but non-commercial employment opportunities. It is similar to Universal Basic Income in that everyone enjoys a measure of financial security, but ...
*
Reduction of hours of work
*
Social dividend
The social dividend is the return on the capital assets and natural resources Social ownership, owned by society in a socialist economy. The concept notably appears as a key characteristic of market socialism, where it takes the form of a dividen ...
*
Social safety net
The social safety net (SSN) consists of non-contributory assistance existing to improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals experiencing poverty and destitution. Examples of SSNs are previously-contributory social pensions, in-kind and fo ...
*
Subsidy
A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
*
Universal basic income
Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...
*
Wage subsidy
A wage subsidy is a payment to workers by the state, made either directly or through their employers. Its purposes are to redistribute income and to obviate the welfare trap attributed to other forms of relief, thereby reducing unemployment. It is ...
*
Workfare
Workfare is a governmental plan under which welfare recipients are required to accept public-service jobs or to participate in job training. Many countries around the world have adopted workfare (sometimes implemented as "work-first" policies) to ...
References
{{Authority control
Egalitarianism
Grants (money)
Income distribution
Inheritance
Social economy
Universal basic income
Universalism