Rather than a string of different benefits, it makes more sense to just give £10,000 to every person in the country under 55, a new report suggests.

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) made the recommendation to help people cope with the effects of rising automation, climate change and managing work/life balance.

The idea would see anyone able to claim a £5,000 “dividend” for up to two years, collected at a time of their choosing over the course of a decade.

In the report, the RSA said: “While we do not predict that automation will lead to mass job losses, it seems inevitable that the labour market will be reconfigured and require many to adapt."

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It added the Universal Basic Opportunity Fund (UBOF), which would cost around £14.5 billion a year, would be funded by either a “modest increase” in taxes on top earners or through levies on large corporations, to create a British sovereign wealth fund, the Grimsby Telegraph reports .

The report recommends the government borrows £200 billion while interest rates are “historically low” to establish the fund, which would be “potentially able to pay itself back through economic growth engendered by investment in human capability”.

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Payments would not be means tested but applicants would have to show how they intended to spend the money. Those receiving the payments would also not be able to claim tax allowances, which the RSA says would be a disincentive to high earners considering applying for them.

It also suggests ultimately axing child benefit, tax credits and jobseeker’s allowance and replacing it with a basic state wage.

RSA’s Action and Research Centre director Anthony Painter added: “The simple fact is that too many households are highly vulnerable to a shock in a decade of disruption, with storm clouds on the horizon if automation, Brexit and an ageing population are mismanaged.

Without a real change in our thinking, neither tweaks to the welfare state nor getting people into work alone, when the link between hard work and fair pay has broken, will help working people meet the challenges ahead.”

Universal Basic Income (UBI) systems are not unprecedented, with Finland currently in the middle of a two-year pilot scheme, giving 2,000 unemployed people a monthly income of €560 (£497), which they continue to receive even if they find work.

Scotland has also provided funding for four local authorities to explore the idea.

The concept is not without its critics though, with many saying it would prove cripplingly expensive and provide little benefit.

A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said a British UBI funded only with money saved by abolishing existing benefits systems would lead to higher levels of poverty.

It added that, even if taxes were raised significantly to pay for it, the fund would “not significantly reduce poverty”.