Who Supports Basic Income? Constituency as a Constraint in Political Feasibility Testing

With a provincial welfare system in crisis, Basic Income is re-merging as a strategy to guarantee a minimum level of income for everyone, regardless of employment status. According to polls, public opinion on Basic Income in Ontario is almost evenly divided among those supporting it and those rejecting it. From a policy making perspective, understanding the demand for policy changes is critical in assessing the political feasibility of Basic Income. This research tests the political feasibility of Basic Income by examining soft constraints, specifically, its constituency base. It inquires on the socio-economic characteristics behind public support for Basic Income through the analysis of a survey conducted in 2016. The findings provide insights on the constituency base of Basic Income which proves to have no socio-demographic homogeneity. Instead, perception- and ideology-related variables have been identified as predictors of attitudes towards the Basic Income proposition in Ontario.