by Claire Bott | Nov 10, 2017 | News
The Ministry for Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare in Namibia has floated the possibility of introducing basic income grants for those between 19 and 59, according to Namibian national daily paper New Era.
The Ministry was set up in early 2015, following the landslide election of President Hage Geingob. It is headed by former Bishop Zephania Kameeta, who has a history of universal basic income (UBI) advocacy. A paper entitled Blue Print on Wealth Distribution and Poverty Eradication, put out by the Ministry in May 2016, stated that “measures should provide people with tools that build resilience and self sufficiency to break the cycle of poverty. Social safety nets are one of such measures that can help graduate people out of poverty to sustainable livelihoods.”
Reporting on an initiative by the Ministry to discuss implementation of the poverty eradication plan, New Era titled their article “Basic Income Grant Under Consideration”, and ended it with the sentence, “The ministry will also look into introducing a basic income grant for people between the ages of 19 and 59, who do not qualify for the existing grants yet do not have means to sustain themselves.” At the time of going to press, no external confirmation could be found of New Era’s statement on basic income grants; however, although the paper is technically owned by the New Era Publication Corporation, it is in fact openly run by the Namibian state and as such may have more detail on government policies than other national newspapers.
Namibia has a population of approximately two million people, and for some time was part of South Africa, only gaining independence in 1990. Geingob is the third President of an independent Namibia.
by Claire Bott | Nov 3, 2017 | News
A short-term universal basic income (UBI) pilot in India has been found to have positive effects years after it concluded, according to a recent follow-up study. Researchers who returned to the villages involved in the original pilot study, which took place in 2012-2013, found that many of the improvements caused by a year of basic income had been wholly or partially maintained.
In a few cases, there had even been what are called “momentum effects”, in which behaviour changes due to the year-long UBI had continued to build during the intervening years. For example, in the original study, it was found that, prior to the provision of the UBI, women (or “the spouse of the head of the household” as it is expressed in the report) made decisions on how to spend money only about 9% of the time. At the end of the original study, women were making monetary decisions nearly a quarter of the time, while in the recent follow-up, this had gone up to virtually one-third of the time.
Other instances where positive and long-term effects have been maintained well after the end of the subsidy include an improvement in regular income (related to using the UBI to invest in farming equipment or to set up businesses), and a considerably larger percentage of girls in education.
However, there are also some areas where the effects of the UBI have been found to have been rolled back over the years. One of the most prominent of these is in the area of indebtedness. In the original study, the villagers who were provided with the UBI found that 70% had reduced their debt, but the new study found that there is no longer any statistically significant difference in indebtedness between those who had received the UBI and those who had not.
The study also includes a number of case studies and quotations, including one from the head of the village school, who stated, “The experiment gave a major push to the economy of the village in many ways. In front of my eyes, I could see things changing. Equally, I have also noticed a major positive behavioural change in these people because of that experiment.”
The original study, which was a pilot to test the effects of UBI, involved nearly 140 people in two villages, one of which was provided with a UBI and one of which acted as a control. Every precaution was taken to ensure that the two villages were as similar as possible in all socio-economic characteristics.
The study’s authors include Guy Standing, who is a Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London and co-founder of BIEN, as well as Sarath Davala, a sociologist who co-wrote a book entitled Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India with Standing and Renana Jhabvala, another of the study’s authors. The report concludes by recommending that further UBI pilot studies take place, that existing welfare studies be analysed, and that an Independent Commission on Universal Basic Income is established.
Asked to comment, Davala provided the following statement: “We went back after four years to the same village that received Basic Income for a year in 2012. It was heartening to see that some of the effects still continued when we compared with the situation in the control village. So, what does that show? That unconditional basic income payments have a deeper psychological impact, and that even when they are given for a short period like a year, they do leave a lasting positive impact. They provide people with a sense of economic security. This is a very valuable insight for us and policy makers.”
by Claire Bott | Oct 15, 2017 | News
The Employment Committee of the European Union (EU) has called for all member states to provide a minimum income, or to upgrade existing minimum income schemes.
A minimum income, unlike universal basic income (UBI), is not distributed to all citizens. In most European countries, a minimum income is already provided conditionally, taking the form of various unemployment benefits, child benefit schemes, disability support, pensions, etc.
Now the Employment Committee has recommended that these schemes be overhauled, or, in any cases where they are not already provided, that they be introduced. This is in response to the fact that 25% of people in the EU – nearly 120 million – are currently deemed to be at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
The Committee’s recommendations include setting the amount provided by consulting official figures such as the Eurostat at-risk-of-poverty rate. They also recommend raising awareness among those eligible for minimum income payments, in order to increase take-up of these schemes.
However, the Committee’s recommendation is not currently binding upon member states. It will now be considered by the full European Parliament, which will decide whether to vote this proposal into law.
Although minimum income differs significantly from basic income, this initiative could potentially pave the way for the development of some form of UBI in the future.
by Claire Bott | Oct 3, 2017 | News
Nearly 90% of respondents to a New Zealand-based poll stated that, assuming that the economy and nz stock market was strong enough to support all residents, a universal basic income (UBI) was the fairest way to ensure basic support to all who need it, according to the independent news website Scoop.
Scoop, which conducted the poll via its Hivemind system, also released a number of other results, including the following:
Ninety-four percent of respondents believe that “due to changing economic conditions we need a new system that better guarantees the welfare of the least well off and those facing insecure work conditions.”
In addition, 94% believe that “A Universal Basic Income would better facilitate and recognize unpaid work such as care for the elderly, children, disabled people or other volunteer work which benefits society.”
Eighty-eight percent of respondents believe that “We need to streamline the inefficiency and wasteful bureaucracy of our current tax and benefits systems.”
Additionally, eighty-one percent believe that “a Universal Basic Income will be necessary to protect millions of working people from the worst effects of insecure employment caused by new technology.”
Seventy-four percent of study respondents disagreed with the statement that some people “are simply lazy so providing them with a foundational amount of money to cover basic needs like food, shelter, and medical costs would mean they would just stop working or being productive altogether.”
The Hivemind polls are conducted by surveying people who chose to join a debate on the relevant topic, which is described as such on Scoop’s homepage. Scoop is a New Zealand-based site which claims to have more than 500,000 readers per month. It started nearly 20 years ago, and is owned by a not-for-profit charitable trust.
Scoop Media, “Hivemind Report – a Universal Basic Income for Aotearoa New Zealand“, Scoop, September 2017
by Claire Bott | Sep 16, 2017 | News
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, announced that a number of basic income experiments in her country will be funded by the national government. The local councils concerned – these being Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife and North Ayreshire – had already committed to the experiments, but this is the first time that national funding for them has been made available.
The original plans for the experiments were developed in partnership with the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), a British charity which had previously produced an award-winning report on the potential means of implementing basic income in the UK. Anthony Painter, Director of the RSA’s Action and Research Centre and co-author of the report, said “There is a myth that Basic Income is at odds with work. We believe that it in fact forms a foundation for better work… We welcome experimentation and the support committed today helps Scotland join Finland, Canada and several places in the US in exploring how Basic Income can enable better and more secure working lives. We hope to see more such experiments across the UK.”
Jamie Cooke, Director of RSA Scotland, commented, “We are delighted to see this commitment from the Scottish Government to support the development of UBI pilots… We face challenges within the current social security system as it struggles to respond to modern challenges, and are in a period of flux in terms of the changing nature of work and employment. UBI offers an opportunity to respond to these challenges, breaking down barriers to work which currently exist, offering space for better quality work, and helping move people out of the precarious lives that many are currently stuck in.”
Sturgeon has stated that the results of the experiments will “inform parliament’s thinking for the future.” However, as Scotland is still part of the UK, it will not currently be able to put basic income into practice without the approval of the government of Great Britain.
The decision to fund the experiments has been reported on by the national British press, including the Independent and the Telegraph, both of which included a brief and largely accurate summation of the nature of universal basic income (UBI).
Sturgeon’s decision comes as she put forward a government programme which includes higher taxes to fund social services, and a plan to phase out sales of new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles. This has been seen by some as a political move to the left in order to fight back against the Labour party’s resurgent popularity in Scotland since the recent general election.
