146 Journal of Poverty and Social Justice • vol 31 • no 1 • 146–162 • © Policy Press 2023 Print ISSN 1759-8273 • Online ISSN 1759-8281 • https://doi.org/10.1332/175982721X16702368352393 Accepted for publication 05 December 2022 • First published online 06 January 2023 policy and practice Universal Basic Income is affordable and feasible: evidence from UK economic microsimulation modelling 1 Howard Robert Reed, howard@landman-economics.co.uk Landman Economics, UK Matthew Thomas Johnson , matthew7.johnson@northumbria.ac.uk Northumbria University, UK Stewart Lansley , stewartlansley@aol.com University of Bristol, UK Elliott Aidan Johnson , elliott.johnson@northumbria.ac.uk Northumbria University, UK Graham Stark , graham.stark@virtual-worlds.biz Open University & Virtual Worlds, UK Kate E. Pickett , kate.pickett@york.ac.uk University of York, UK Critics of Universal Basic Income (UBI) have claimed that it would be either unaffordable or inadequate. This discussion paper tests this claim by examining the distributional impacts of three UBI schemes broadly designed to provide pathways to attainment of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). We use microsimulation of data from the Family Resources Survey to outline the static distributional impacts and costs of the schemes. Our key fnding is that even the fscally neutral starter scheme would reduce child poverty to the lowest level achieved since 1961 and achieve more than the anti-poverty interventions of the New Labour Governments from 2000. The more generous schemes would make further inroads into the UK’s high levels of poverty and inequality, but at greater cost. We conclude by assessing fscal strategies to reduce the up-front defcit of higher schemes, providing a more positive assessment of affordability and impact than critics have assumed. Key words Universal Basic Income • microsimulation modelling • poverty • inequality • Minimum Income Standard To cite this article: Reed, H.R., Johnson, M.T., Lansley, S., Aidan Johnson, E., Stark, G. and Pickett, K.E. (2023) Universal Basic Income is affordable and feasible: evidence from UK economic microsimulation modelling, Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 31(1): 146–162, DOI: 10.1332/175982721X16702368352393 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 02/23/23 02:21 PM UTC