What do British people think about universal basic income?
Economic axis · 🇬🇧 the United Kingdom · measured continuously, published only above 100 responses.
38% of British respondents take the position “The state should pay everyone enough to live on, with no strings.”, against 48% for “Money from the state should go to people who work, or who clearly need it.”, with 14% choosing neither. n = 110, margin of error ±9.5, weighted to the United Kingdom's adult population.
Where the United Kingdom sits on economic
What is measured about the United Kingdom on this axis. These are facts about the country, not what its people think about them — that is the part of this page waiting on a sample.
|
Income inequality (Gini)
World Bank PovcalNet/PIP · 2021
|
32.4 0–100 |
somewhat below the middle
|
|
Unemployment
ILO modelled estimate · 2025
|
4.7% |
close to the middle
|
|
Income per person
World Bank / ICP · 2025
|
$53,993 |
higher than most countries
|
Ranked against every country with a published figure for the same series. Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators, which republish UN, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, SIPRI, IISS and UNODC data.
The questions that bear on universal basic income
Asked as a forced choice between two written positions, in randomised order, with the sides flipped for half of respondents.
|
A · Money from the state should go to people who work, or who clearly need it.
B · The state should pay everyone enough to live on, with no strings.
World, unweighted: 24% A ·
20% neither ·
56% B · n = 4775
|
38% B 🇬🇧 n=110 |
|
A · If machines take the jobs, people must retrain and move on.
B · If machines take the jobs, the state must guarantee an income.
World, unweighted: 24% A ·
23% neither ·
52% B · n = 4736
|
34% B 🇬🇧 n=112 |
A national figure appears only once that nation clears 100 responses on the question. The world column is a raw count of every answer received and is not post-stratified — it is shown because withholding it would say less, not more.
Asked another way
The same question, as people put it.
- The united kingdom public opinion on universal basic income
- Universal basic income poll the united kingdom
- What do british people think about universal basic income
- What percentage of british people support universal basic income
Each has one answer on this page, and it is the same answer.