On March 12, 2018, D.C. Policy Center Executive Director Yesim Sayin Taylor appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi Show to discuss Universal Basic Income in D.C. with Councilmember David Grosso and Jennifer Budoff, Budget Director for the Council of the District of Columbia.
It would surprise almost no one that it is expensive to live in the District, but thanks to results of a study by the The Office of the Budget Director, we learn just how expensive it is: a single person with no kids living in the city would need to make $17.78 an hour to meet their basic needs (someone with one kid would have to earn $31.79 an hour). Yet, the much-lauded effort to increase D.C.’s minimum wage will only see the floor raised to $15 an hour in 2020. Similar issues abound in the city’s suburbs, too, where the gulf between the minimum wage and the cost of living remains wide in most jurisdictions. Could a universal basic income be the long-term solution?
Listen to the show here.