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universal basic income
Guardian report reflects hopes of the Finnish social security agency that data from UBI trial - where guaranteed, unconditional income is paid in advance - will show unintended benefits through a positive impact on anxiety, prescription drug consumption, and doctor visits….
A report from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - Pathways to Universal Basic Income proposes -
the creation of a Universal Basic Opportunity Fund (UBOF): an effort to reimagine how society supports people to live meaningful, contributory lives. Its premise is simple: fund every citizen under the age of 55 with a £5,000 opportunity dividend for up to two years, taken at a time of their choosing over the course of a decade. The fund would initially last for ten years, with dependent children also eligible for the payment in the year a parent, or both, werereceiving it.
So you get £10,000 over two years but have to relinquish any state benefits…
The BBC reports -
As the dividends would replace payments such as Child Benefit, Tax Credits and Jobseeker’s Allowance, the savings for the government could also be ploughed into the fund.
There’s a session on basic income at the LSE next week as part of their Beveridge celebrations.
The are copies of the slides from the LSE thing on the website, including Gareth’s, which make for interesting reading. I particularly like that the fella from the Adam Smith Institutes suggestion that HMRC would be good delivering a negative income tax because of their experience delivering tax credits! Cos they were ace at that…
We wouldn’t have UC if someone somewhere wasn’t convinced that monthly had worked with Tax Credits!
Couple of new reports out today on universal basic income ...
- from the Centre for Social Justice: Universal Basic Income: An Effective Policy for Poverty Reduction?
- from the RSA: Realising basic income experiments in the UK
The results are in from the Finnish jury:
Europe’s first national government-backed experiment in giving citizens free cash failed to encourage its participants to work more as organisers had hoped – but it did improve their wellbeing.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/08/finland-free-cash-experiment-fails-to-boost-employment
The basic income experiment did not increase the employment level of the participants in the first year of the experiment. However, at the end of the experiment the recipients of a basic income perceived their wellbeing as being better than did those in the control group.
Another report - from Progressive Economy Forum for Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell - recommends pilot of universal basic income across the UK -
Basic Income as Common Dividends: Piloting a Transformative Policy
Interim report published assessing feasibility of Citizens Basic Income in Scotland with a preferred model set out in Appendix 1.- to test universal payments at a high level (£213 per week working age) and a low level at £73.
Further details of progress are on the Basic Income Scotland website.
A nice reminder that I hadn’t actually posted this. So…
Ahead of the debate on Universal Basic Income tomorrow the House of Commons Library have published a briefing, The introduction of a universal basic income -
Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a term used to describe a number of different proposals where the state would provide income for all citizens, without any conditions attached, and regardless of their other resources. The idea has a long history and has attracted supporters from across the political spectrum at various times.
There is some debate as to what constitutes a UBI. Some argue that it should be adequate to live on and could replace current social security arrangements. Others push for more limited schemes which would provide universal payments alongside the existing social security system. The most common broad conception of a UBI scheme is one where universal payments provide people with just enough money to live on. This was summed up by Annie Lowrey in 2018:
‘It is universal, in the sense that every resident of a given community or country receives it. It is basic, in that it is justenough to live on and not more. And it is income.’
Both supporters and critics accept that full UBI schemes would be huge and society-transforming undertakings.
In this briefing we summarise the arguments put forward by advocates and opponents of UBI schemes. We also outline a selection of international examples where some form of UBI has been introduced.
Now available on parliament uk - the transcript of oral evidence from the Work and Pensions Committee session last week on universal basic income - part of its ongoing inquiry DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work