by BIEN | Sep 11, 2015 | News
In a public square in Berlin, Ralph Boes can be found sitting at a table. Anyone who would like to can speak to Boes, who will then explain his protest of the current German welfare system. Boes demands a “livable income”, a guaranteed minimum income that can provide enough for everyone to meet their needs. Germany’s welfare sanctions mean that if an individual refuses a job, regardless of the circumstances, they lose their welfare benefits. Boes believes that this policy of sanctions fundamentally sacrifices the dignity of the individual. Boes has been on strike since July 1, and plans to continue his strike to educate people about the basic income.
For more information on Boes and his ideas, visit Boes website
, or the Tumblr page
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by BIEN | Sep 8, 2015 | News
This article critically assesses both sides in the debate about the advance of technology’s impact on the future of employment. Social media is a great example of how new technology has actually created more jobs in the process of technological advancement, but other data predicts that 45% of jobs could disappear. Regardless of the impact technology will have, Rota believes basic income needs to shape the policy surrounding technological change.
Anton Fernandez de Rota, “About technology, basic income and the extinction of work [De la tecnología, la Renta Básica y la extinción del trabajo]” Diagonal Blogs, August 26, 2015.
by BIEN | Sep 7, 2015 | Research
This report examines the impact of an emergency cash grant distributed by churches in Namibia modeled on the Basic Income Grant Pilot in Otjivero. During the 2012/2013 summer months, the precipitation deficits varied between 20% and 90%, which resulted in one of the worst recorded droughts in Namibia that left 36% of the population food insecure. The cash grant’s impact was significant and life saving. During the baseline, 63% of people involved suffered from insufficient food daily or at least once a week. Following the grant, 77% of people did not lack food during the month Individuals used the remaining 40% of the money to meet health related expenditure, to invest in schooling and farming. Prior to the project, about 60% surveyed preferred cash over food aid or fodder for the animals, after five months of receiving the grant, this figure rose to nearly 95%.
Claudia and Dirk Haarmann, “Relief through cash: Impact assessment of the emergency cash grant in Namibia” BIG Coalition Namibia, July 2015.
by BIEN | Sep 6, 2015 | News
The Finnish Government is interested in the basic income. Prime Minister Juha Sipila has expressed support for the idea, saying, “For me, a basic income means simplifying the social security system.” 4 out of 5 Finns currently support the basic income, but some policy experts have expressed hesitation to endorse the policy. Ohto Kanninen, from Tank Research Centre, said, “What would be the impact of a basic income to employment in Finland – positive or negative? We can’t really foresee how people would behave with a basic income.” Consequently, a pilot is being considered. The project would pay 8,000 people from low income groups four different monthly amounts, possibly ranging from €400 to €700. The Finnish constitution requires every citizen must be equal, which could prevent the project, but this requirement could be waived to gain information for the good of society
For more information on the Finnish basic income project, see:
“Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system
” Maija Unkuri, BBC News. August 20, 2015.
by BIEN | Jul 6, 2015 | News
On June 19 and 20, basic income activists from around the world met in Seoul to discuss the prospects of future basic income programs and the results from recent experiments. In South Korea, an unconditional basic income is only embraced by members of academia, Green Party Chairman Kim Jho Kwang-soo, and the mayor of Seongnam, Jae-myung Lee, but public support is growing for a youth dividend based on the basic income. At the conference, Tsinghua University professor Cui Zhiyuan expressed a belief that China could eventually adopt a universal basic income and that such an action was necessary to guarantee China remains a “social country”. Sarath Davala, author of Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India, also reported that a pilot program testing out the basic income in India was a success, reducing debt for families and increasing the time children, especially girls, spent in school.
For more information on International Congress on Basic Income in Korea, see:
International Congress on Basic Income in Korea
