The latest jobs report from the BLS reports a sudden acceleration of an ongoing trend of job growth, and unemployment in the US is now around 3.7 percent. Despite these impressive job numbers, real wages remain low for American workers. Perhaps in light of this, The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Raise the Wage Act this week, which reflects the goal of the Fight for $15 campaign: increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour.

The idea polls well. A majority of voters support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour as well. And most 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, support a $15 federal minimum wage too.

And it may seem that conditions are perfect for changing the federal minimum wage — unemployment is low, and the idea has a lot of support. But it’s worth thinking about proposals for a $15 federal minimum wage not only in light of Americans’ current economic circumstances but also in light of projected changes to the workforce going forward.

A higher minimum wage may benefit people who have jobs, but it doesn’t make life easier for people who aren’t workers. This is what makes the idea of a Universal Basic Income or Negative Income Tax a more promising route. Essentially, if we are interested in helping those most in need, we should focus on policies that put cash in all people’s pockets instead of just the pockets of hourly employees.

Ultimately, the advantage of these programs over a $15 minimum wage is that they benefit all citizens and do not disproportionately benefit workers and burden employers. And unlike other costly redistributive policies such as student loan forgiveness and universal healthcare, UBI is better suited to reflect each person’s distinctive circumstances, preferences, and personal values. Below, I outline several reasons why more people should consider the UBI as a viable public policy.

Considering the UBI over the Fight for $15

Overall, the UBI does not rely on maintaining our current economic order in the way that policies that focus on benefiting workers do. This is an advantage because the economy is very likely going to change radically in the next century. Though today’s workers are not very concerned about automation, economists and policy experts argue that they should be.

Even if new technology does not cause significant job losses, workplace transformations associated with new technology are likely to have significant political and economic consequences. Tying the provision of public benefits to participation in the workforce needlessly raises the stakes of any policy that could change the composition of the workforce, and therefore increases the political and economic risks associated with automation. Moreover, the UBI doesn’t limit its benefits to people who are engaged in paid employment. This has four benefits that a higher minimum wage does not.

First, a UBI would benefit people who do valuable unpaid labor, such as childcare and eldercare, as well as people who are employees.

Second, a UBI would not interfere with workers’ and employers’ freedom to set the terms and conditions of their labor. If it is possible to benefit low-income Americans without restricting their freedom to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment relationships, officials should favor the less restrictive policies.

Third, a UBI would not tie people to their employers. This means that a basic income would potentially enable more economic mobility, enhance workers’ bargaining power, and enable people to stop working if they need to leave the workforce due to disability or caregiving obligations.

Fourth, policies that do not tie assistance to employment would not disproportionately burden employers. The debate over minimum wage increases is often framed as if employers are failing to benefit workers sufficiently. But low-wage work often helps low-skill workers more than anyone else. Without these employment opportunities, they would be even less capable of meeting their basic needs. If the justification for a higher minimum wage is that everyone should be able to support themselves, why should employers bear the full cost of meeting that goal? In contrast, a basic income enables citizens to share the cost of supporting a social safety net rather than treating employers as the only way to achieve it.