Poll: Universal Basic Income favored in Canada, U.K. but not in U.S.

Gaps in support for UBI among the three countries surveyed may be due to the tradition of more robust social safety nets in the U.K. and Canada than in the U.S. However, despite the differences in overall support, there are some similarities in age group patterns. In general, younger residents in each country are more supportive of UBI than older residents are, with at least eight in 10 young adults (aged 18 to 29) in the U.K. and Canada — and nearly six in 10 in the U.S. — supporting the idea. By contrast, support is about 15 to 30 percentage points lower in each country among those aged 65 and older.

At the same time, the patterns of support by education level differ across the three countries. In the U.S., support for UBI is higher among those with increased levels of education, ranging from 38% of those with a high school diploma or less to 54% of those with a bachelor’s degree and 51% of those with a postgraduate degree. In the U.K. and Canada, support for UBI is highest among those at the lower end of the education spectrum — 80% of U.K. adults with no more than an upper secondary school education support the program, as do 78% of Canadians with similar levels of education. Support falls to an average of 73% in the U.K. and 72% in Canada among those with a college or postgraduate degree.