basic income

A form of universal basic income — A form of social security, whereby all citizens or qualified residents, receive a sum of money on a regular schedule unconditionally.

Similar
universal basic incomeUBIguaranteed minimum incomeguaranteed basic income

Meanings

nounbasic income (usually uncountable, plural basic incomes)

plural basic incomes

  1. abbreviationellipsisuncountableusuallyEllipsis of universal basic income, a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a jurisdiction receive a sum of money, regularly and unconditionally.

    The questions to be raised are how processes of globalization, internationalization and economic integration affect national welfare states and what are the consequences for the basic income proposal.

    2005, Guy Standing, Promoting Income Security as a Right: Europe and North America, Anthem Press, →ISBN, page 84
    2 more examples

    The second feature is the payment by the government of a basic income to all citizens, regardless of their private income or wealth. The amount of basic income should be the same for everyone, and should be calculated to be sufficient to […]

    2004, Ellen Hadley, One Dear Land, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 19

    For example, replacing an existing tax-benefit system with a combination of a basic income and a flat tax such that no income fell below the poverty threshold would presumably result in large changes in many dimensions of behavior which […]

    2014, Anthony B. Atkinson, Francois Bourguignon, Handbook of Income Distribution, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 2168

    Synonyms: universal basic income, UBI

  2. abbreviationellipsisuncountableusuallyEllipsis of guaranteed basic income, a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a jurisdiction are guaranteed to have an income level at or above the set basic income cut-off level, whereby the government will top-off incomes falling below the line, to reach the limit; those falling above the line would not receive payments.

    Synonyms: guaranteed minimum income, guaranteed basic income

Synonyms & antonyms

Translations

Arabic راتب أساسي, دخل أساسي
  • راتب أساسيbasic income
  • دخل أساسيbasic income
Chinese Mandarin 全民基本收入, 基本收入
  • 全民基本收入 (quánmín jīběn shōurù)basic income
  • 基本收入 (jīběn shōurù)basic income
Danish borgerløn
  • borgerlønbasic income
Esperanto baza enspezo
  • baza enspezobasic income
Estonian kodanikupalk
  • kodanikupalkbasic income
Finnish perustulo, kansalaispalkka
  • perustulobasic income
  • kansalaispalkkabasic income
French revenu de base
  • revenu de basebasic income
German Grundeinkommen
  • Grundeinkommenbasic income
Italian reddito di base, reddito di base incondizionato
  • reddito di basebasic income
  • reddito di base incondizionatobasic income
  • reddito minimo universalebasic income
Japanese ベーシックインカム, 最低生活保障
  • ベーシックインカムbasic income
  • 最低生活保障basic income
Portuguese renda básica universal
  • renda básica universalbasic income
Spanish renta básica, renta mínima
  • renta básicabasic income
  • renta mínimabasic income
Swedish basinkomst
  • basinkomstbasic income
Turkish evrensel temel gelir, temel gelir
  • evrensel temel gelirbasic income
  • temel gelirbasic income
  • vatandaşlık geliribasic income
Cite this entry
APA

basic income. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/basic%20income

MLA

“basic income.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/basic%20income. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “basic income,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/basic%20income.

Source: basic income on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.