Your making assumptions that people who rely on it will put their time to good use when a great many of them are not currently do so, why would they change with even less reason?<p>Incentive to work would more like incentive to receive even more benefits for other items. The problem is politicians, suddenly there will be all sorts of new exceptions to your BI &quot;because&quot;. Then we are back to square one.<p>I see most BI suggestions as rationalization for giving up. Face it, there are a lot of people who would be and even some who are living at a level none of us can fathom. Do we really want to legislate an permanent poor class of people, one where there is likely more incentive to not leave it?<p>Finally how do you plan to prevent self destructive and generally harmful activities some will engage in. There are countless stories of generational incompetence, from high frequency of out of wedlock children if not even out of school, to not even finishing school? How can we incentivize good behavior, good for self and society?