I think the only way for basic income to work is a very clear definition of what is and is not luxury. I think a lot of the issues with minimum wage and welfare debates stem from different people having different definitions of what should be paid for by those services.
We see this with the minimum wage debate -- everyone's definition of a "living wage" is different. Does basic mean house, car etc in a nice area or does it mean that if you're not working you can afford to live only where the cost of living is low? I think this needs to be really clearly laid out so down the line the intention of the money is clear.
If it's clearly laid out ahead of time, then in the US situation for example, someone complaining that they cannot afford an apartment in an expensive area without working is not evidence for a need to raise the basic income, it's evidence they need to move or find a (better) job.
It may sound weird, but this is not that big problem in Finland. We don't have too much that sort of arguments. Our politics is lot more consensus/compromise based than U.S. politics. This means people disagreeing in quantity can be sorted out. But the big parties can veto this stuff for no apparent reason what so ever.
Our left is more communist than U.S. left. Some of them don't give a shit what is "living wage". They think government should give them all excess money possible. And if there is no excess, then take loan to support some arbitrary standard of living for everybody. "You don't have to pay debt" "tax the rich more".
But people don't really believe them. Most Finns still think that "average Finn is somewhat sensible person". The whole multiparty system can exist, because we mostly agree on stuff. It's just the details that are different. When I go to vote, I don't think "how to save the country from the evil Kokoomus". I think what party could nudge the system to better direction.
Being cohesive small nation state is cosy. But the hivemind can be scary at times. Currently police is trying to pass internet surveilance legistlation and it's not much protested. Because "average Finn is somewhat sensible, they would not do this if they didn't really have to".
A living wage is also strongly dependent upon family makeup. Two childless individuals can survive on far less per adult than a single parent with three children.
So for starters, do the BI scale per individual, and if so, how? Assuming it scales flatly, it gives an incentives to have children because of economies of scale (this is not to say people will have dozens of children, as this is a single incentive among many, many of which are incentives to not have children).
We see this with the minimum wage debate -- everyone's definition of a "living wage" is different. Does basic mean house, car etc in a nice area or does it mean that if you're not working you can afford to live only where the cost of living is low? I think this needs to be really clearly laid out so down the line the intention of the money is clear.
If it's clearly laid out ahead of time, then in the US situation for example, someone complaining that they cannot afford an apartment in an expensive area without working is not evidence for a need to raise the basic income, it's evidence they need to move or find a (better) job.