by BIEN | Apr 21, 2020
What is a Basic Income?
A Basic Income is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement.
Sometimes called Universal Basic Income, a Citizen’s Income, or a Citizen’s Basic Income, it is not the same as a Minimum Income Guarantee; A Basic Income does not reduce as one earns more. For more information: About Basic Income
Why do we need it?
Because someone’s Basic Income would never be taken away, it would
- provide a secure financial platform to build on
- enable the employment market to become more flexible at the same time as enhancing income security
- give to everyone more choices over the number of hours for which they were employed
- enable carers to balance their caring and other responsibilities
- make it easier to start new businesses or to go self-employed, and
- encourage personal freedom, creativity, and voluntary activity
Because everyone would get a Basic Income, it would
- create social cohesion, and
- carry no stigma
Because the Basic Income would never be withdrawn, it would
- reduce the poverty trap for low income families, enabling them to lift themselves out of poverty by seeking new skills, better jobs, or additional hours of employment
- reduce the unemployment trap, so getting a job would always mean additional disposable income
Because Basic Income would be simple and efficient, it would
- be easy to understand
- be cheap to administer and easy to automate
- not be prone to errors or fraud
Many current benefits system are no longer fit for purpose. They assume that everyone has a stable single employment, that household structures don’t change, and that individuals’ circumstances change very rarely. Our lives are no longer like that: and as technology and the employment market continue to change, our benefits systems will become even less appropriate.
In a context of rapid change, the only useful system is a simple one. A Basic Income is as simple as it gets.
For a list of 101 reasons for a Basic Income, see Malcolm Torry’s book, 101 Reasons for a Citizen’s Income.
Why pay money to the rich when they don’t need it?
It is efficient to pay the same level of income to everybody of the same age and then tax it back from those who don’t need it. The alternative is to means-test incomes so that only those who are poor receive them: but that results in complexity, stigma, errors, fraud, and intrusive bureaucratic interference in people’s lives.
Would Basic Income be financially feasible?
Tests for a Citizen’s Basic Income scheme’s financial feasibility might be listed as follows:
- Revenue neutrality ( – that is, it would be funded by making changes to the current tax and benefits system), or sustainable additional funding should be shown to be feasible
- Poverty and inequality need to fall
- Low income households should suffer no significant losses at the point of implementation, and no household should suffer unmanageable losses
- Income Tax rates should rise by a clearly manageable amount
- A significant number of households should be released from means-tested benefits
Would people still work?
If by ‘work’ we mean ‘paid employment’, then the answer is yes. In the short to medium term, we are unlikely to see a Basic Income that would be sufficient to live on, so everyone would need additional sources of income. And because Basic Incomes would not be withdrawn as earnings rose, any family taken off means-tested benefits by their Basic Incomes would experience a reduction in withdrawal rates, and would experience more incentive to seek employment, or to start their own business, than they do now.
If by ‘work’ we mean purposeful activity of any kind, then the answer is again yes. By providing a secure layer of income, a Basic Income would enable people to readjust their employment hours in order to undertake additional caring and community work.
Why pay money to people who do nothing?
In many countries we are already paying means-tested benefits to people who do nothing, and the complexity and sanctions associated with those payments demotivate people and can tip their families into poverty. A Basic Income would take a lot of people off means-tested benefits, and so would encourage economic activity. Pilot projects in India and Namibia showed that in countries with less developed economies, and without comprehensive benefit systems, even quite small Basic Incomes increase economic activity among households with the lowest disposable incomes.
Would immigration go up?
As with other benefits, a government would be likely to require a period of legal residence before someone could receive a Basic Income. Because Basic Income would provide everyone with a secure layer of income, and therefore a greater employment incentive than means-tested benefits, anyone coming into the country would be even more likely to contribute to the economy than they are now.
Would wages fall?
Means-tested benefits function as dynamic subsidies – that is, they rise if wages fall, which can encourage wage-cutting. A Basic Income would not rise if wages fell, so employers would experience more resistance if they attempted to cut wages.
Some wages might rise. Because everyone would have a secure financial platform on which to build an income strategy, some workers would be more able to leave undesirable jobs in order to start their own businesses, or to learn new skills and seek new jobs; and workers would be able to spend longer looking for a job that they might want, rather than just any job. Either currently undesirable jobs would have to improve, or wages would have to rise in order to attract workers.
Some wages might fall. Because everyone would have a secure income layer, some people might decide to take a desirable job even if it didn’t pay very much. Wage levels for desirable jobs might therefore fall.
Would a Basic Income threaten the welfare state?
If a revenue neutral Citizen’s Basic Income scheme were to be implemented, then no cuts to public services would be required. The amounts of means-tested benefits received by households would fall, but only because those households were already receiving Basic Incomes. Benefits specifically designed to cover the additional costs of disability, and benefits to cover the differing housing costs in different areas, would continue.
Would a Basic Income cause inflation?
Inflation occurs when the amount of money available to spend is greater than the value of the economy’s productive capacity. In that situation, if the amount of money keeps growing, then each unit of money can buy progressively less, so money loses its value, sometimes rapidly. A Basic Income scheme paid for purely by making changes to the current tax and benefits system would not add to the money supply, so inflation would not occur. If the amount of money available to spend was below the productive capacity of the economy, then a government could create money until the gap was filled, and that new money could be used to pay a Basic Income: but if inflation started to occur, then money creation would have to stop, and new taxes would have to be used to pay for the Basic Income.
Has a Basic Income ever been tried?
Short pilot projects have taken place in Namibia and India, and something like a Basic Income has been implemented by accident in Iran. Experiments with the similar but different Minimum Income Guarantee and Negative Income Tax in the United States and Canada during the 1970s showed useful social outcomes and very little withdrawal from employment. The similarities between the economic effects of a Minimum Income Guarantee and Basic Income would suggest that the results of the Minimum Income Guarantee experiments would be replicated if a Basic Income were to be implemented; and the differences between them mean that the effects are likely to larger for Basic Income than for the 1970s experiments. Basic Income pilot projects and similar experiments continue in the United States, Uganda, Kenya, Spain, and the Netherlands, and experiments are planned for Scotland.
Further reading
More detailed responses to questions can be found in chapter 10 of Malcolm Torry, Why we need a Citizen’s Basic Income: The desirability, feasibility and implementation of an unconditional income, Policy Press, 2018.
Recently published introductions to the subject are as follows:
Louise Haagh, The Case for Universal Basic Income, Polity, 2019
Annie Miller, A Basic Income Handbook, Luath Press, 2017
Guy Standing, Basic Income: And how we can make it happen, Penguin, 2017
Malcolm Torry, Why we need a Citizen’s Basic Income: The desirability, feasibility and implementation of an unconditional income, Policy Press, 2018
For a detailed treatment of feasibility, see Malcolm Torry, The Feasibility of Citizen’s Income, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016
For chapters on many aspects of the Basic Income debate by world experts, see The Palgrave International Handbook of Basic Income, Palgrave, 2019
by BIEN | Apr 21, 2020
Become an Affiliate of BIEN
If you are a member of an organization that would like to become an affiliate of BIEN, click here or scroll down to the bottom for the requirements of affiliates and the instructions for requesting affiliation.
BIEN’s Affiliates:
ARGENTINA: Red Argentina de Ingreso Ciudadano
Founded in March 2004
Website: www.ingresociudadano.org.ar
Facebook: Renta Básica Argentina
President: Rubén M. Lo Vuolo
Member of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: Rubén Lo Vuolo
Email: ciepp@ciepp.org.ar
AUSTRALIA: Basic Income Guarantee Australia (BIGA)
Founded in 2002
Website: www.basicincome.qut.edu.au
Facebook: Basic Income Guarantee AustraliaCoordinator: Gregory Marston (g.marston@uq.edu.au)School of Social ScienceFaculty of Humanities and Social SciencesUniversity of QueenslandSt Lucia CampusMichie Building, QLD, Australia 4067
AUSTRIA: Netzwerk Grundeinkommen und sozialer Zusammenhalt – B.I.E.N. Austria
Founded in October 2002
Antonigasse 100, 1180 Wien
Website: www.grundeinkommen.at
Email: info (AT) grundeinkommen.at (please replace “AT” by “@”)
Contact person: Margit Appel (margit.appel@ksoe.at)
Contact person (Media): Markus Blümel (markus.bluemel@ksoe.at)
Bangladesh: Bangladesh Basic Income Network (BBIN)
Founded in August 2020
Chairperson: A K M Maksud
Secretary: Imtiaj Rasul
Coordinator: Khandaker Reaz Hossain
BELGIUM: Belgian Network for Basic Income
Founded on June 27, 2012
Website: www.basicincome.be
Facebook: Basic Income.be
Contact person: Quentin Fabri
Email: info@basicincome.be
Organizing Committee: Aline Goethals, Pierre-Yves Ryckaert
BRAZIL: Rede Brasileira de Renda Básica de Cidadania
Founded in September 2004
Coordinator: Eduardo Suplicy (eduardo.suplicy@camara.sp.gov.br / rendabasicanobrasil@gmail.com)
CANADA: Basic Income Canada Network / Réseau canadien pour le revenu garanti
Founded in June 2008
New English-language website: basicincomecanada.org
New French-language website: revenudebasecanada.org
Facebook: Basic Income Canada Network
Chairperson: Sheila Regehr
Contact: info@basicincomecanada.org
Mailing address: 1 Valhalla Inn Road, Suite 403, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M9B 1S9
CANADA: Quebec – Revenue de base Quebec (RBQ)
Affiliated in July 2016
Website: revenudebase.quebec
Email: info@revenudebase.quebec
Facebook: Revenue de base Quebec
244, Saint-Olivier, app. 3, Québec G1R 1G3
5445, ave de Gaspé, suite 602, Montréal H2T 3B2
Contact Person: Luc Gosselin
CHINA: BIEN China
Affiliated in July 2016
DENMARK: BIEN Denmark (Borgerlønsbevægelsen)
Founded in January 2000
List of board members: https://basisindkomst.dk/bestyrelse/
Website: basisindkomst.dk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UbetingetBasisindkomst
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BIEN.Danmark/
Email: contact@basisindkomst.dk
EUROPE: Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBI-Europe)
Founded in 2014
Website: www.basicincome-europe.org
Email: contact@ubie.org
Facebook: Basic Income Europe
President: Dániel Fehér
FINLAND: BIEN Finland – Suomen perustuloverkosto
Founded in May 2011, registered in December 2012
Chair: Pekka Elonheimo
Vice-Chair: Johanna Perkiö (johanna.m.perkio@gmail.com)
Tel.: +358 40 5000189
Contact: perustulo@perustulo.org
FRANCE: Mouvement Français pour un revenu de base
(French Movement for Basic Income)
Founded in 2013
Website: www.revenudebase.info
Facebook: MFRB Revenu de base
Contact person: Nicole Teke (nicole.teke@gmail.com)
GERMANY: Netzwerk Grundeinkommen
Founded in July 2004
Website: www.grundeinkommen.de
Website english: https://www.grundeinkommen.de/english
Website French: https://www.grundeinkommen.de/francais,
Website Polish: https://www.grundeinkommen.de/polski,
Website Italian: https://www.grundeinkommen.de/italiano,
Website Spanish: https://www.grundeinkommen.de/espanol,
Website Portuguese: https://www.grundeinkommen.de/portugues,
Email: kontakt@grundeinkommen.de,
Facebook: Netzwerk Grundeinkommen,
Twitter: NetzwerkBGE,
Members of board: Jörg Ackermann, Ronald Blaschke *(blaschke[at]grundeinkommen.de), Christiane Danowski *(danowski[at]grundeinkommen.de), Ralf Engelke, Hardy Krampertz, Claudia Laux, Michael Levedag, (* contact persons)
HUNGARY: Első Magyar Feltétel Nélküli Alapjövedelemért Egyesület / The First Hungarian Unconditional Basic Income Association
Founded: May 31, 2011
Affiliated: 2021
Website: https://alapjovedelem.org/
Facebook (EN): https://www.facebook.com/First-Hungarian-Unconditional-Basic-Income-Association-655471314593940
Facebook (EN): https://www.facebook.com/FNA.hu/
Email address: alapjovedelem@alapjovedelem.org
Chair: Györgyi Szentpéteri
Secretary, Co-ordinator, founder: Evamaria Langer-Dombrady
Postal address: H-2040. Budaörs, Réz utca 8.
ICELAND: BIEN Iceland
Founded: Dec 10, 2016
Contact: Albert Svan albert@piratar.is
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1820421514854251/
INDIA: India Network for Basic Income (INBI)
Website: www.basicincomeindia.weebly.com
Facebook: India Network for Basic Income
+91 789 3033 728
Contact Person: Sarath Davala (sarathdavala@gmail.com)
INDONESIA: Indonesian Basic Income Guarantee Network (IndoBIG)
website: www.indobig.netfacebook page: Basic Income Indonesiatwitter: @BasicIncomeINAemail: indobignetwork@gmail.comfounder & coordinator: Yanu E. Prasetyo ( yanuprasetyo85@gmail.com)
IRELAND: Basic Income Ireland
Founded in March 1995
Website: https://basicincome.ie
Email: info@basicincome.ie
Facebook: facebook.com/BasicIncomeIreland [2]
Twitter: twitter.com/BasicIncomeIRL [3]
Coordinators: Anne B Ryan and John Baker
Member of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: John Baker, Department of Adult and Community Education, NUIM
Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
ITALY: Bin Italia (Basic Income Network Italy)
Founded in July 2008
Website: https://www.bin-italia.org
Facebook: BIN Italia
President: Luca Santini (luca.santini@bin-italia.org)
Vice President: Rachele Serino (rachele.serino@virgilio.it)
Coordinator and contact person: Sandro Gobetti (sandro.gobetti@bin-italia.org)
Other members and roles of BIN Italia Committee: https://www.bin-italia.org/consiglio_direttivo.php
Email: info@bin-italia.org
Address: BIN Italia Via Filippo De Grenet, 38 – 00128 Rome, Italy
Tel.: Luca Santini: +39 3487752116
Tel.: Sandro Gobetti: +39 3334375476
JAPAN: BIEN Japan
Founded in November 2007
Website: https://tyamamor.doshisha.ac.jp/bienj/bienj_top.html
Coordinator: Shinji Murakami (shinji.murakami [at] staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp )
MALAWI: Basic Income Malawi Group
Founded: August 2017
Contact: Frank Kamanga kamafrank@gmail.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UniversalBasicIncomeMalawi/
MEXICO: Red Mexicana Ingreso Ciudadano Universal
Founded in April 2008
Website: www.icu.org.mx
Coordinator: Pablo Yanes (ingresociudadano@gmail.com; pyanes2007@gmail.com)
Member of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: Pablo Yanes
NETHERLANDS: Vereniging Basisinkomen
Email: info@basisinkomen.nl
Website: www.basisinkomen.nlFacebook: Vereniging BasisinkomenPresident: Alexander de RooSecretary and contactperson: Adriaan Planken
Galgeveld 10
3705 MB Zeist, Nederland
Tel.: 0031-30-6991721 // 0031-6-22420270
NEW ZEALAND: Basic Income New Zealand Incorporated (BINZ)
Founded on July 22, 2016
Email: binzcontact@gmail.com
Website: www.basicincomenz.net
Facebook: Basic Income New Zealand
NORWAY: Borgerlønn BIEN Norge
Founded in October 2012
Email: post@borgerlonn.no
Website: https://borgerlonn.no
Facebook: Borgerlønn BIEN Norge
Coordinator: Glenn Slotte
PORTUGAL: Rendimento Básico
Founded in March 2013
Website: www.rendimentobasico.pt
Facebook: Rendimento Básico Inconditicional Portugal
Contact person: Roberto Merrill (nrbmerrill@gmail.com)
RUSSIA: Basic Income Russia Tomorrow
Founded in September 2017Email info@basicincomerussia.orgContact person: Сhairman of the council of movement: Solovyev Alexander (slvvalex@gmail.com)Tel.: +7 968 648 6600Social media contacts:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/basicincomerussiaz/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basic_income_russia/Twitter: https://twitter.com/basicincome_rusPinterest: https://ru.pinterest.com/basicincomerussia/Address: Tverskaya str., 9, building 7, office 415, Moscow, Russian Federation, 125009
SCOTLAND: Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland (SCIO)
Trustees of Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland
15 Morningside Park
EDINBURGH
SCOTLAND
EH10 5HD
Tel: 00 (44) 131 447 3268
Email: anniemillerBI@gmail.com
SLOVENIA: Sekcija za promocijo UTD v Sloveniji
Founded on the 20th of January, 2010
Website: www.zofijini.net
Email: utd.slovenija@gmail.com
Coordinator: Branko Gerlic
Contact persons: Branko Gerlic (branko.gerlic@gmail.com), Dr. Valerija Korosec (valerija_korosec@yahoo.com), Dr. Igor Pribac (suriprib@guest.arnes.si)
Zofijini ljubimci – Drustvo za razvoj humanistike
Ob zeleznici 8
2000 Maribor
Slovenia
SRI LANKA
Affiliated in: 2023
Facebook: Basic Income Sri Lanka
Email: selvi1946@yahoo.com
President : Selvi Sachithanandam
Executive Committee: Visakha Tillekeratne, Madhuri, Modi, Dhivya Sivanesan, Rohith Pradee
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII)
Founded in 2006
Websites: www.spii.org.za
Facebook: SPII Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute
Director/Coordinator: Isobel Frye (isobel@spii.org.za)
31 Quinn Street, CIVICUS House
Newtown, Johannesburg
P.O Box 31747, Braamfontein 2017
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel.: +27 11 833 0161/2
Fax.: +27 11 832 3085
SOUTH KOREA: Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN)
Founded in June 2009
Website: https://basicincomekorea.org/
E-mail: basicincomenet@gmail.com
Facebook: 사무
Representative: Nam-hoon Kang (kangnamhoon@gmail.com)
SPAIN: Red Renta Basica
Founded in February 2001
Website: www.redrentabasica.org
Facebook: Red Renta Básica
President: Daniel Raventós (presidencia@redrentabasica.org)
Member of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: Daniel Raventós
Departament de Teoria Sociològica, Filosofia del Dret i Metodologia de les CCSS
Facultat d’Economia i Empresa
Universitat de Barcelona
Diagonal, 690
08034 Barcelona, Spain
SWITZERLAND: BIEN Switzerland
Founded in September 2002
Website: basicincome.ch
Email: info@bien.ch
BIEN-CH
1200 Geneva
President: Ralph Kundig
TAIWAN
Affiliated in July 2016
Website: ubitaiwan.org
Email: taiwanbasicincome@gmail.com
Chairman: Tyler Prochazka
Executive Committee: Jiakuan Su, Rita Liao
TURKEY: CITIZEN’S BASIC INCOME – TURKEY
Founded in September 2016; affiliated in 2019
Facebook : Vatandaşlık Temel Geliri – VTG
Website : www.vatandasliktemelgeliri.org
Twitter : @TemelGelir _VTG
Instagram : temel_gelir_vtg
Coordinator : Dr. Ali Mutlu KÖYLÜOĞLU
E-Mail : alimutlu.koyluoglu@gmail.com
Mobile Phone (WhatsApp) : +90 – 532 – 314 95 20
UNITED KINGDOM: Citizen’s Basic Income Trust
Founded in 1984 (initially as “Basic Income Research Group”)
Website: www.citizensincome.org
Email: info@citizensincome.org
Director: Malcolm Torry
Citizen’s Basic Income Trust
286 Ivydale Road
London SE15 3DF
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7635 7916
UNITED STATES: U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG)
Founded in December 1999
Website: www.usbig.net
Facebook Page: U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network
Coordinator: Michael Howard (Michael_Howard@umit.maine.edu)
Members of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: Michael Lewis, Eri Noguchi
WORLD BASIC INCOME
Founded: October 2016
Contact: Laura Bannister info@worldbasicincome.org.uk
Website: https://www.worldbasicincome.org.uk/
Become an Affiliate of BIEN
BIEN is willing to affiliate organisations with the same aim as itself:
To educate the general public about Basic Income, that is, a periodic cash payment delivered to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement; to serve as a link between the individuals and groups committed to, or interested in, Basic Income; to stimulate and disseminate research about Basic Income; and to foster informed public discussion on Basic Income throughout the world.
An affiliated organisation needs to
- be not-for-profit
- have regular activities
- have a constitution with a clear decision-making structure *
- promote debate on Basic Income, and not only on particular Basic Income schemes or funding methods
- be focused solely on Basic Income and not committed to any broader programme or wider agenda (even if Basic Income is a central aspect of that agenda)
- refrain from causing any form of reputational damage to BIEN, and not to be affiliated to any organisation that might cause reputational damage to BIEN
- welcome the involvement of everyone interested in Basic Income
- keep in contact with BIEN’s Executive Committee
(* Two methods for selecting the decision-making body are acceptable: selection of new members of the decision-making body by existing members of it, or election of members of the decision-making body by a wider organizational membership.)
To apply to be affiliated to BIEN, an organisation needs to write a letter to the secretary at secretary@basicincome.org explaining how it fits the criteria and providing contact details. BIEN’s Executive Committee will then decide whether to recommend affiliation to the General Assembly. The final decision on affiliation is made by the General Assembly.
Any affiliated organisation that is found not to be adhering to the criteria for affiliation will be discussed by the Executive Committee, which might recommend disaffiliation. Final decisions about disaffiliation are made by the General Assembly.
