Universal basic income (UBI) is emerging as one of the most hotly debated issues in development and social protection policy. But what are the features of UBI? What is it meant to achieve? How do we know, and what don’t we know, about its performance? What does it take to implement it in practice?

This book chapter, from Exploring Universal Basic Income : A Guide to Navigating Concepts, Evidence, and Practices, examines one of the most contentious quandaries and concerns among policy-makers: the interface between UBI and work. It critically reviews and discusses the arguments and evidence on the links between UBI and four work-related outcomes: participation and hours in paid work; the conditions of paid work (e.g. whether a UBI would strengthen bargaining power); the recognition, valuation and distribution of unpaid work (could a UBI be considered a way of remunerating unpaid work?); and formal and informal employment.