When I'm thinking of different models of universal basic income, what I find interesting is that in some of the models where you do cut a cheque to everyone, most of the dollars end up going to families who are not in poverty. That's why I think the programs that focus first on those in poverty are the ones that are most effective. For example, the Canada child benefit focused most resources on lower-income families and middle-income families, and pulled it back from high-income families. It was explicitly not universal. To my mind, that was its strength.
When we're thinking of these income support policies, I try to keep my mind firmly on what the goal ought to be.