Volume 8, (Supplement) 1973
Rein, Martin. 1973. "Recent British Experience with Negative Income Tax." Journal of Human Resources 8(S):69-89.
Unlike American proposals for welfare reform which are concerned primarily with reducing costs by altering work behavior among present recipients of public assistance, British attempts to devise an income transfer system are based on the rationale that scarce resources should be concentrated upon those in the greatest need. There is some concern about disincentive effects, particularly when people draw benefits from more than one program. This article describes the theory and operation of recent income supplement programs in Britain, the problems and anomalies of each, and the government's attempts to devise solutions. The British and American experiences are compared in the concluding section.
The author is a Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presently on leave at the Center for Environmental Studies, London.
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