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Income taxonomy

Types of basic income and adjacent guarantees.

The public debate often uses UBI as a catch-all phrase. FFI separates strict basic income from related tax credits, dividends, demographic benefits, capital grants, services, and AI-era abundance claims.

16 income models4 status categoriesCash, tax, dividend, capital, service, computeUniversal high income labeled speculative
16 income models4 status categoriesCash, tax, dividend, capital, service, computeUniversal high income labeled speculative

1

Canonical

8

Variant

5

Adjacent

2

Speculative

Canonical

Canonical Models

Models that satisfy the standard definition.

Periodic, individual, universal, unconditional cash

Universal Basic Income

Canonical

The canonical model: a recurring cash payment to all members of a political community, paid individually, without a means test and without a work requirement.

Scope
All qualifying members of the community
Conditions
No income, work, job-search, or behavioral condition
Delivery
Regular cash payment, usually monthly or quarterly

Why it matters: Baseline definition used by BIEN, Stanford Basic Income Lab, and much of the policy literature.

Variant

Variant Models

Models that retain core basic-income logic but narrow the group, level, funding source, or duration.

UBI set high enough to meet basic needs

Full or Livable Basic Income

Variant

A UBI variant where adequacy is central: the payment is intended to cover basic living costs or enable dignified participation, rather than merely supplementing other income.

Scope
Universal within the eligible population
Conditions
Unconditional
Delivery
Recurring cash transfer

Why it matters: Clarifies payment level. It is still UBI, but distinguishes a poverty-floor design from a smaller partial dividend.

Universal cash below subsistence level

Partial Basic Income

Variant

A smaller universal payment that improves income security but is not designed to cover full living costs on its own. Many politically feasible proposals begin here.

Scope
Universal within the eligible population
Conditions
Unconditional
Delivery
Recurring cash transfer

Why it matters: Useful for fiscal transition plans, dividends, or reforms that supplement rather than replace major welfare-state functions.

Shared returns from common assets distributed to citizens

Social Dividend

Variant

A recurring equal payment financed from public assets, sovereign wealth funds, natural-resource rents, or socialized capital returns. Alaska is the best-known operational analogue, though its annual payment is not a full UBI.

Scope
Usually universal for citizens or residents who meet residency rules
Conditions
Generally unconditional after eligibility is established
Delivery
Dividend cash payment, often annual or periodic

Why it matters: Emphasizes shared ownership and revenue-source transparency rather than general taxation alone.

Rents from scarce commons returned equally

Resource, Carbon, or Land Dividend

Variant

A family of dividend models funded by oil, minerals, carbon permits or taxes, spectrum, land value, or other scarcity rents treated as common assets.

Scope
Universal for the relevant political community
Conditions
Unconditional after eligibility is established
Delivery
Cash dividend tied to rent or tax revenue

Why it matters: Connects basic income to common ownership of natural, environmental, or location value.

Universal grant paired with an explicit tax schedule

Demogrant or Basic Income Flat Tax

Variant

A demogrant pays everyone a grant and then recovers resources through the tax system. Basic income flat-tax models make the gross grant and tax rate explicit, helping show who is a net beneficiary.

Scope
Universal gross payment
Conditions
Unconditional grant; net outcome depends on taxation
Delivery
Cash grant plus income tax schedule

Why it matters: Analytically useful because many UBI and NIT designs can be made equivalent in net terms while differing administratively.

Unconditional support attached to children

Universal Child Benefit

Variant

A universal cash benefit paid for every child or to caregivers on behalf of children. It is age-targeted rather than universal across all adults, but it preserves unconditionality within the child population.

Scope
Universal for children, not all residents
Conditions
Generally unconditional after child/residency eligibility
Delivery
Recurring cash or tax transfer

Why it matters: A practical basic-income-like policy with strong child poverty relevance.

Age-based universal income for older residents

Universal Basic Pension or Senior Dividend

Variant

A recurring old-age payment available broadly by age and residency rather than previous contributions or poverty status. It is a demographic basic income for seniors, not a full-population UBI.

Scope
Universal within an age-defined group
Conditions
Age and residency rules; usually no work test
Delivery
Recurring cash pension

Why it matters: Shows how universal income principles often appear first in demographic systems before whole-population proposals.

Temporary universal or near-universal crisis cash

Emergency Basic Income

Variant

A time-limited cash payment used during shocks such as pandemics, recessions, disasters, or rapid displacement. It borrows UBI mechanics but is not permanent by design.

Scope
Universal or near-universal during a defined emergency
Conditions
Usually minimal conditions
Delivery
Temporary recurring or one-off cash payment

Why it matters: Useful for resilience planning, but should not be confused with a permanent basic income settlement.

Adjacent

Adjacent Models

Important cousins that change unconditionality, universality, periodicity, or cash form.

Guaranteed income floor delivered through taxes

Negative Income Tax

Adjacent

A tax-system design that pays net transfers to people whose income falls below a threshold, phasing out as earnings rise. It can be equivalent to UBI after taxes in some models, but the cash-flow experience is different.

Scope
Universal entitlement formula, targeted net payment
Conditions
Usually no work condition, but based on reported income
Delivery
Refundable tax credit or tax reconciliation

Why it matters: Important cousin of UBI in public finance debates, associated with Milton Friedman and later microsimulation work.

Unconditional cash for defined populations

Guaranteed Income

Adjacent

A broad term for unconditional recurring cash paid to a targeted group, often by income, place, age, caregiving status, or pilot eligibility. It is not fully universal unless everyone in the community qualifies.

Scope
Targeted rather than population-wide
Conditions
Usually unconditional after selection
Delivery
Recurring cash transfer

Why it matters: Best label for many modern pilots, including Stockton, that test cash without claiming full UBI universality.

Basic income conditional on socially useful activity

Participation Income

Adjacent

Anthony Atkinson proposed participation income as a politically easier cousin of basic income: broad cash support for people engaged in paid work, education, care, volunteering, job search, or other socially recognized participation.

Scope
Broad but not unconditional
Conditions
Requires recognized participation
Delivery
Recurring cash benefit

Why it matters: Important in the literature because it trades strict unconditionality for reciprocity and political feasibility.

One-time asset grant rather than income stream

Universal Basic Capital or Stakeholder Grant

Adjacent

A lump-sum capital grant, often at adulthood, intended to give everyone a meaningful stake for education, housing, enterprise, or wealth-building. It is related to Paine-style inheritance arguments but is not periodic income.

Scope
Universal for a qualifying age cohort
Conditions
Eligibility rules vary; may have use restrictions
Delivery
One-time capital grant or account

Why it matters: Complements income-security debates by focusing on wealth, opportunity, and intergenerational capital.

Public services instead of cash income

Universal Basic Services

Adjacent

A non-cash alternative that guarantees access to essentials such as health care, transport, housing, education, connectivity, or care. It is not basic income, but often appears as a complement or critique.

Scope
Universal access to services
Conditions
Service eligibility rather than cash unconditionality
Delivery
In-kind public provision or subsidized access

Why it matters: Important counter-model because cash adequacy depends on the price and availability of essential services.

Speculative

Speculative Models

Emerging proposals with incomplete institutional design.

AI-era access to compute rather than cash

Universal Basic Compute

Speculative

An emerging technology-policy idea in which people receive access to AI compute, model usage, or shares in AI infrastructure. It is not income, but it is part of the same automation-distribution debate.

Scope
Universal access or public stake proposals vary
Conditions
Not settled
Delivery
Compute credits, public equity, or digital entitlement

Why it matters: Relevant because AI wealth may be distributed through access, ownership, or dividends rather than only cash payments.

Post-scarcity income beyond a basic floor

Universal High Income

Speculative

A recent AI-era phrase associated with claims that advanced automation could support a high standard of living for everyone. It is better treated as a speculative abundance scenario than a settled policy instrument.

Scope
Universal in aspiration, institutional design unclear
Conditions
Usually described as unconditional, but not formally specified
Delivery
Unclear; proposals range from cash to public wealth funds or abundance through lower prices

Why it matters: Include it carefully: it is known in public debate, but it does not yet have the mature design literature of UBI, NIT, or social dividends.