Under normal circumstances, we could make it opt-in. This was a stipulation of Andrew Yang's UBI policy.
It could be argued that under current circumstances, creating an opt-in mechanism might increase administrative complexity. That said, I imagine you still need a simple mechanism to figure out eligibility. Do non-citizens qualify? Permanent residents? Short-term visitors? International students? Only people with SSNs?
So if there's going to be an administrative layer anyway, the difficulty of adding an opt-in mechanism to that layer would be marginal.
"Opt-in" systems have disappointing levels of people who need the benefit but are too proud or scared to claim.
Where possible avoid this problem and give the benefit to absolutely everybody. The administration is simpler, it will get to all those who need it, and if you become concerned Bill Gates is getting too much free childcare or whatever, feel free to increase his taxes accordingly.
> "Opt-in" systems have disappointing levels of people who need the benefit but are too proud or scared to claim.
Is there any source to this claim when it specifically comes to giving people money for opting in for something?
Using some nordic countries as example, many of them help people by giving them money each month in order to survive. These people are not too proud or scared to claim free money when they need it. My guess is that people from the US will act similarly.
Specifically for giving cash money? No. But the UK has experience with benefits that are automatic versus have to be claimed and it's noticeable.
As an example elderly people in the UK are entitled to use some types of public transport at no cost so as to ensure they don't end up isolated (of course right now isolating them is a good idea, but ordinarily it's a problem). But the entitlement takes the form of a smartcard with photo ID. So of course you need to do paperwork to get it. The very wealthiest may not bother, if you have a chauffeur who cares about free bus travel? But the poorest don't apply at anywhere close to expected rates, because somebody needs to explain to them that they need to apply, help them take a photograph and upload it, and so on.
Are you sure about Nordic countries just "giving people" money with no strings attached? They have much better social safety nets than the US, which are important for softening things like this - but an improved social safety net is not free money.
It could be argued that under current circumstances, creating an opt-in mechanism might increase administrative complexity. That said, I imagine you still need a simple mechanism to figure out eligibility. Do non-citizens qualify? Permanent residents? Short-term visitors? International students? Only people with SSNs?
So if there's going to be an administrative layer anyway, the difficulty of adding an opt-in mechanism to that layer would be marginal.