History and projection of the concept of universal basic income

Abstract

This article presents a literature review on the history of the emergence of the concept of universal basic income (UBI) as an economic and social welfare policy, based on analytical, integrative, observational, and retrospective aspects. Subsequently, the analyzed documents were classified according to historical periods defined by the authors as follows: French Revolution, 19th century, 20th century, and 21st-century perspectives. The paper concludes that UBI, especially since the 19th century, have become a public policy option with high potential to improve social justice, particularly in contexts of high concentration of wealth and, even more, with the advent of automation and robotization processes that affect employment and, therefore, the well-being of societies in the 21st century.