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This themed issue, guest‐edited by Jurgen De Wispelaere and Troy Henderson, is devoted to examining, first, whether the widespread use of immediate and unconditional cash transfers as a policy response to the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID‐19 crisis has provided a boost to cash transfer programmes generally and to emergency basic income (EBI) policies more specifically. The set of articles then charts the reception of EBI‐type policies as a pandemic response in specific country or regional contexts, and reflects on their relevance for the future development of universal social protection and, especially, universal basic income (UBI). While the contribution to be made by basic income to realizing resilient and agile social protection policy responses merits serious consideration, in particular in a context where existing social protection systems are patchy and fragmented, important questions remain as to how to evaluate the time‐limited EBI crisis response in light of the more durable needs which a permanent UBI purports to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the connection between two related but distinct models of basic income proposals in the context of a pandemic emergency. While COVID‐19 appears to have increased interest in basic income, this often ended up taking the form of a temporary emergency basic income (EBI) instead of a permanent universal basic income (UBI). In this article we argue that the "dial up/dial down" model of basic income allows us to link EBI and UBI in a way that offers both a practical response to important implementation challenges in emergency policy making and a strategic argument in favour of UBI as a pandemic policy instrument. We illustrate our argument by contrasting the Renda Básica de Cidadania (RBC) in the municipality of Maricá, Brazil, with two comparable programmes in the same region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen En el presente artículo se estudia la aplicación de la renta básica universal, un asunto al que no se ha prestado atención en las investigaciones sobre la renta básica. Definimos y examinamos tres importantes obstáculos que pueden impedir que una renta básica alcance el objetivo de la universalidad que desean y proclaman sus defensores: a) el establecimiento de un censo de posibles solicitantes que abarque toda la población con derecho a ella y garantice el máximo número de beneficiarios; b) la creación de mecanismos de pago efectivos para que lleguen a todos los beneficiarios previstos, y c) la planificación de un mecanismo eficaz de supervisión para insertarlo dentro de un contexto político que excluya, de modo explícito, el seguimiento de los clientes. Sostenemos que la aplicación de una renta básica universal afronta problemas únicos que sus defensores deben estudiar atentamente. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]