The event features guaranteed income researchers and advocates from around the world to discuss lessons in messaging and framing to build support for guaranteed income or UBI in varying political and cultural contexts. Speakers include Anne Price, President of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development; Barb Jacobson, Co-ordinator of Basic Income UK; Tatiana Roque, Professor at UFRJ and Brazilian Basic Income Network member; and Catherine Thomas, Stanford University PhD Candidate and Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow. They will be joined by experts from across the globe.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We welcome you to have your camera on as we hope to allow for discussion across many guaranteed income advocates and researchers in attendance.
About the speakers:
Barb Jacobson
Barb Jacobson has experience on both sides of the welfare system, as a claimant and advisor, as well as working in a variety of other jobs. She has organised around women’s, health, welfare, and housing issues for over 30 years. Barb is Co-ordinator of Basic Income UK, and was the founding Chair of UBIE (Unconditional Basic Income Europe) from 2014 to 2017.
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Tatiana Roque
Tatiana Roque is a Professor of Mathematics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a member of the Brazilian Basic Income Network. Her work examines traditional political movements and the ways in which new mobilization strategies may be employed at universities, unions, and wider political movements. She will speak about the movement for basic income in Brazil, and particularly surrounding the Maricá Basic Income.
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Anne Price
Anne Price is the President of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. The Insight Center is a U.S. racial and economic justice organization working to ensure that all people become and remain economically secure. She also serves as a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and was one of the first US thought leaders to examine and push for narrative change in addressing racial wealth inequality.
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Catherine Thomas
Catherine Thomas is a Ph.D. candidate in social psychology and an Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow at Stanford University. Her research examines the integration of economic and social inclusion within cash-based policies, and in particular with regard to public opinion on cash policy in the U.S. as well as perspectives of cash-transfer recipients using varying narrative frames. Her research on cash-based policies includes work in East and West Africa with the nonprofit GiveDirectly, the World Bank, and the Government of Niger. She co-authored Stanford Basic Income Lab’s guide for cities conducting basic income pilots.
Autores: Carlos Alvarado Mendoza y Jonathan Menkos Zeissig An english version of the article can be found here.
Recientemente, el Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales (Icefi) propuso para Centroamérica la puesta en marcha de una renta básica universal (RBU), buscando que los Estados del istmo cuenten con una garantía mínima de protección social, al tiempo en que se contribuye a contrarrestar el impacto de la pandemia del Covid-19. Una RBU, acompañada de otras inversiones púbicas, sociales y económicas, aceleraría el cumplimiento de la Agenda 2030 para Desarrollo Sostenible y, al plantear un cambio estructural en el modelo de bienestar y crecimiento económico, podría ser la base para la discusión de nuevos pactos sociales, políticos, económicos y fiscales en Centroamérica.
Los gobiernos centroamericanos han implementado acciones con elfin de contener la propagación del virus y disminuir los impactos en la salud de las personas y en la actividad económica. No obstante, se han enfrentado a un escenario complejo, aunque en distintos grados en cada país, pues la pandemia ha exacerbado los problemas estructurales relacionados, principalmente, con la falta de equidad en el acceso y atención de los sistemas de salud pública, el débil sistema de asistencia y protección social y la baja capacidad para la generación de empleo formal y de transformación productiva, lo que tiene como consecuencia altos niveles de desigualdad y pobreza. En efecto, previo a la crisis, 45 de cada 100 centroamericanos (alrededor de 22.5 millones de personas) vivían en condiciones de pobreza; más aún, 82 de cada 100 centroamericanos pobres vivían en Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras. De acuerdo con estimaciones del Instituto, la crisis actual podría provocar la pérdida de hasta 1.9 millones de empleos, e inducir un aumento significativo de la pobreza general y extrema.
Solamente en Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras, la crisis actual podría sumar, al menos, a 4.9 millones de personas a la pobreza, de conformidad con los datos de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), lo cual erosionaría aún más el débil tejido social de estos países de la región (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), 2020, “América Latina y el Caribe ante la pandemia del COVID-19: efectos económicos y sociales”, Informe Especial COVID-19 No. 3). Dentro de las principales medidas que han sido implementadas por la mayoría de gobiernos centroamericanos para limitar el impacto sobre la población, en términos de garantizarles ingresos, seguridad alimentaria y servicios básicos, particularmente para los grupos vulnerables, se encuentran: la entrega de alimentos; la creación de nuevas transferencias monetarias; la suspensión del pago de servicios básicos (particularmente de agua, energía y teléfono); y, el aumento en el monto de las transferencias monetarias previamente existentes.
Asimismo, se han puesto en marcha diferentes tipos de programas de protección para trabajadores del sector formal, entre los cuales se encuentra el teletrabajo, la ausencia laboral pagada, el seguro de desempleo, la reducción de la jornada laboral, entre otros. Adicionalmente, se han entregado apoyos directos adicionales a personas y familias, consistentes en facilidades de pago de créditos, apoyo a trabajadores del sector informal, entre otros. Si bien las medidas adoptadas por los gobiernos de la región son acotadas y de carácter temporal, las mismas señalan la urgente necesidad de implementar acciones permanentes, desde una perspectiva de largo plazo, que permitan garantizar la disminución gradual de la pobreza en los países de la región hasta alcanzar su eliminación y asegurar los derechos de las personas al fortalecer los Estados mediante la provisión universal de protección social que permita reconstruir el tejido social de esos países.
Frente a lo anterior, el Icefi ha urgido a los Estados centroamericanos ampliar y fortalecer sus sistemas de protección social de manera que se proteja a la población, priorizando a los grupos tradicionalmente excluidos y más vulnerables, se limiten los daños económicos y financieros derivados de la crisis y se acelere el proceso de recuperación económica. Para logra estos objetivos de manera rápida y efectiva, el Instituto propone la puesta en marcha de una renta básica universal (RBU) que elimine la pobreza extrema y disminuya significativamente la pobreza general. En su III Informe centroamericano de política fiscal ―cuyos primeros capítulos serán publicados en el mes de julio―, el Instituto ha calculado los costos y efectos de la aplicación de una renta básica universal.
Para la implementación de una RBU, el Icefi plantea asignar una suma monetaria a cada miembro de la sociedad, equivalente al monto asociado al umbral internacional de pobreza extrema (USD 1.90 diarios en paridad de poder de compra de 2011). De esa cuenta, se estaría abonando también a la consecución de la Agenda 2030 de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), en particular los objetivos 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, y 16. La aplicación de una RBU reviste una simplicidad operativa que abona a su ejecución rápida, evitando crear más burocracia, abrir caminos a la corrupción y mantener a los beneficiarios sumidos en la trampa de la pobreza. Al asignarse de forma incondicional, permitiría no sólo erradicar la pobreza extrema, disminuir la pobreza general, reducir la desigualdad en la distribución del ingreso, aumentar los niveles de actividad económica y crear las condiciones para nuevos empleos, sino también la medida debe provocar la modernización de la política fiscal y el reequilibrio necesario de las responsabilidades entre los ciudadanos, las empresas y los gobernantes.
De esa cuenta, al plantear un cambio estructural en el modelo de bienestar y crecimiento económico, la RBU podría ser la base para la discusión de nuevos pactos sociales, políticos, económicos y fiscales en Centroamérica. Las estimaciones iniciales realizadas por el Instituto sugieren que la inversión anual necesaria para la implementación de una RBU oscila entre el 1.2% y el 7.5% del PIB para los seis países de la región, siendo Honduras el país que exigiría una inversión mayor debido al tamaño de su PIB y al número de habitantes del país. Similarmente, Nicaragua requeriría de una inversión de, aproximadamente, un 5.8% del PIB; mientras que en Guatemala y en El Salvador, la inversión necesaria alcanzaría entre el 5.0% y el 5.3% del PIB, respectivamente. En contraste, los países que enfrentarían menor presión fiscal para la implementación de esta política son Costa Rica y Panamá, cuya inversión estaría en torno al 2.2% y al 1.2% del PIB, respectivamente.
Figura 1. Centroamérica: incremento necesario en el gasto público de la administración central para implementar una RBU a partir del umbral de pobreza internacional (2020-2030, cifras en porcentajes del PIB).
A criterio del Instituto, la implementación de una RBU podría realizarse de forma gradual, como se observa en la Figura 1 ―en un tiempo máximo de diez años y atendiendo a la población en los territorios con mayor pobreza y menor desarrollo―, congruente con el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible y con la necesaria reestructuración institucional, fiscal y económica que garantice la efectividad y sostenibilidad de esta política a lo largo del tiempo. Esta forma de lograr gradualmente la universalidad de la renta básica permitiría a los Estados avanzar integralmente en la universalización de otros bienes y servicios públicos relacionados con la educación, la salud, el agua y el saneamiento ambiental, la vivienda, entre otros.
Según estimaciones del Instituto, entre los mayores impactos de ejecutar esta agenda, además de la eliminación de la pobreza extrema, se encuentran la generación de 2.0 millones de empleos directos; el incremento promedio de 20% en el ritmo de la actividad económica, principalmente impulsado por producción doméstica; así como mejoras en los indicadores de bienestar social e igualdad. Para el cumplimiento general de la Agenda ODS2030 en la región centroamericana, el Instituto ha identificado diversas fuentes probables de financiamiento, entre las que se destaca el aumento de la recaudación tributaria como resultado de la reducción de los flujos ilícitos de capital, el contrabando, la evasión de impuestos y de privilegios fiscales; así como por el incremento de algunos impuestos que, adicionalmente, podrían mejorar la progresividad global del sistema tributario.
En algunos Estados, el endeudamiento también puede ser considerado como mecanismo de financiamiento. Adicionalmente, el Instituto reitera que, por el lado del gasto público, es posible generar espacios fiscales adicionales a través de dos vías: mediante eliminación de los rubros que no se encuentran orientados a metas de desarrollo, de manera que los recursos puedan ser reasignados hacia programas que tengan dicha orientación; así como mediante la mejora en la eficiencia de aquellos que pueden generar mejores resultados en términos económicos y sociales.
La implementación gradual de una renta básica universal, en conjunto con el avance de las inversiones públicas que garanticen el cumplimiento de las metas de desarrollo, y una reforma fiscal integral ―más ingresos, gasto público con base en resultados, mayor transparencia y lucha efectiva contra la corrupción―, son los elementos que permitirán a los centroamericanos enfrentar con éxito esta crisis sanitaria y económica ampliando derechos y reequilibrando responsabilidades sociales. Por ello, el Instituto exhorta a toda la sociedad ―movimientos campesinos y promotores de derechos humanos particulares, trabajadores, empresarios, academia, partidos políticos y gobiernos en funciones― a promover un diálogo nacional abierto y sensato, con visión de futuro, que tenga como objetivo conseguir transformar los Estados por medio de un pacto social, económico y fiscal que cambie las tendencias políticas y socioeconómicas actuales y encamine a Centroamérica por la senda del desarrollo sostenible, inclusivo y democrático al que aspiran las grandes mayorías.
En particular, los Estados de los países de la región deben avanzar en el fortalecimiento de sus programas de protección social, elemento central de política que permite reducir las desigualdades existentes, no sólo en términos de ingreso, sino hacia desde una perspectiva inclusiva en términos económicos y sociales que favorezca la cohesión social. Más aún, para el Icefi, reducir la agudización de las condiciones de pobreza en las que vive más de la mitad de los centroamericanos podrá ser posible al universalizar el acceso a programas de protección social pues el contexto actual solamente ha acentuado las limitaciones existentes en términos del modelo económico y social. Una mejor Centroamérica es posible en la medida en que se formule y se construya un modelo de desarrollo inclusivo en términos económicos, sociales y ambientales, de manera que una renta básica universal asegure una base mínima de protección que esté acompañada de políticas que permitan garantizar para todos una educación de calidad; acceder a servicios de salud oportunos, eficaces y eficientes; contar con servicios públicos de infraestructura económica y social que favorezcan la cohesión social; y que todas las políticas implementadas sean congruentes con una estrategia amigable con el medio ambiente.
By: Carlos Alvarado Mendoza y Jonathan Menkos Zeissig Translation: Julio Linares The Spanish version of the article can be found here.
Recently, the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi) proposed for Central America the implementation of a universal basic income (UBI), seeking that the States of the isthmus have a minimum guarantee of social protection, while contributing to counteract the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. A UBI, accompanied by other public, social and economic investments, would accelerate the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and, by proposing a change structural in the welfare and economic growth model, could be the basis for the discussion of new social, political, economic and prosecutors in Central America.
Central American governments have implemented actions in order to contain the spread of the virus and reduce the impacts on people’s health and economic activity. However, these states have faced a complex scenario, although to varying degrees in each country, as the pandemic has exacerbated structural problems mainly related to the lack of equity in access and care of public health systems, the weak health care system and social protection and the low capacity to generate formal employment and productive transformation, which has as a consequence lead to high levels of inequality and poverty. Indeed, prior to the crisis, 45 out of every 100 Central Americans (about 22.5 million people) lives in conditions of poverty; furthermore, 82 out of every 100 poor Central Americans lives in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
According to estimates by the Institute, the current crisis could cause the loss of up to 1.9 million jobs, and induce a significant increase in general and extreme poverty. Especially in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the current crisis could add at least 4.9 million people to poverty, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which would further erode the weak social fabric of these countries of the region (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 2020, “Latin America and the Caribbean in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: economic and social effects”, Special Report COVID-19 No. 3). Among the main measures that have been implemented by most Central American governments to limit the impact on the population, in terms of ensuring income, food security and basic services, particularly for vulnerable groups, are: food delivery; the creation of new monetary transfers; suspension of payment for basic services (particularly water, power and telephone); and, the increase in the amount of previously existing monetary transfers. Likewise, different types of protection programs have been put in place for workers in the formal sector, among which are teleworking, paid absence from work, unemployment insurance, reduction of working hours, among others. Additionally, additional direct support has been provided to individuals and families, consisting of credit payment facilities, support for workers in the informal sector, among others.
Although the measures adopted by the governments of the region are limited and of a temporary nature, they indicate the urgent need to implement permanent actions, from a long-term perspective, that make it possible to guarantee the gradual reduction of poverty in the countries of the region until they are eliminated and the rights of the people by strengthening States through the universal provision of social protection that allows rebuilding the social fabric of those countries.
Faced with the above, the Icefi has urged the Central American States expand and strengthen their social protection systems in a way that protect the population, prioritizing traditionally excluded groups and the most vulnerable, the economic and financial damages derived the crisis and accelerate the process of economic recovery. To achieve these objectives quickly and effectively, the Institute proposes the implementation launch of a universal basic income (UBI) that eliminates extreme poverty and significantly reduces general poverty. In its III Report Central American fiscal policy ―whose first chapters were published in July―, the Institute has calculated the costs and effects of the application of a universal basic income.
For the implementation of a UBI, the Icefi proposes to assign a sum monetary to each member of society, equivalent to the amount associated with the international threshold of extreme poverty (USD 1.90 per day in parity of 2011 purchasing power). From that account, you would also be paying the achievement of the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, and 16. The application of a UBI has an operational simplicity that pays to its rapid execution, avoiding creating more bureaucracy, opening paths to corruption and keeping beneficiaries in the trap of poverty. By being assigned unconditionally, it would allow not only to eradicate extreme poverty, decrease overall poverty, reduce inequality in income distribution, increase levels of economic activity and create the conditions for new jobs, but also the measure should provoke the modernization of fiscal policy and rebalancing necessary of responsibilities between citizens, companies and the government. From that account, when proposing a structural change in the welfare and economic growth model, UBI could be the basis for discussion of new social, political, economic and fiscal pacts in Central America.
The initial estimates made by the Institute suggest that the annual investment required for the implementation of a UBI ranges from 1.2% and 7.5% of GDP for the six countries of the region, Honduras being the country that would require more investment due to the size of its GDP and the number of inhabitants of the country. Similarly, Nicaragua would require an investment of approximately 5.8% of GDP; while in Guatemala and El Salvador, investment necessary would reach between 5.0% and 5.3% of GDP, respectively. In contrast, the countries that would face the least fiscal pressure to implement this policy are Costa Rica and Panama, whose investment would be around 2.2% and 1.2% of GDP, respectively.
Figure 1: Central America: necessary increase in public spending by the central administration to implement a UBI from threshold poverty level (2020-2030, figures as percentages of GDP).
At the Institute’s discretion, the implementation of a UBI could be carried out gradually, as shown in Figure 1 ―in a maximum period of ten years and serving the population in the territories with the highest poverty and less development, consistent with the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and with the necessary institutional, fiscal and economic restructuring that guarantees the effectiveness and sustainability of this policy over time. This way of gradually achieving the universality of basic income would allow States to advance comprehensively in the universalization of other public goods and services related to education, health, water and environmental sanitation, housing, among others.
According to estimates by the Institute, among the greatest impacts of executing this agenda, in addition to the elimination of extreme poverty, is the generation of 2.0 million direct jobs; the increase average of 20% in the rhythm of economic activity, mainly driven by domestic production; as well as improvements in the indicators of social welfare and equality. For the general fulfillment of the SDG2030 Agenda in the Central American region, the Institute has identified various probable sources of financing, among which the increase in tax collection stands out. As a result of the reduction of illicit capital flows, smuggling, evasion of taxes and fiscal privileges; as well as by the increase of some taxes that, additionally, could improve the global progressiveness of the tax system. In some states, indebtedness can also be considered as a financing mechanism. Additionally, the Institute reiterates that, on the side of public spending, it is possible to generate spaces additional prosecutors through two channels: by eliminating the items that are not oriented towards development goals, so that resources can be reallocated to programs that have such an orientation; as well as by improving efficiency of those that can generate better results in economic and social terms.
Table 1: Fiscal Space on the Taxation Side
The gradual implementation of a universal basic income, together with the advancement of public investments that guarantee the fulfillment of development goals, and a comprehensive fiscal reform ―more income, public spending based on results, greater transparency and an effective fight against corruption – are the elements that will allow Central Americans to successfully face this health and economic crisis, expanding rights and rebalancing social responsibilities. For this reason, the Institute urges all of society – peasant movements and promoters of individual human rights, workers, businessmen, academia, political parties and governments in office – to promote an open and sensible national dialogue, with a vision of the future, that has as objective of transforming States through a social, economic and fiscal pact that changes current political and socioeconomic trends and sets Central America on the path of sustainable, inclusive and democratic development to which the great majority aspire.
In particular, the states of the countries of the region must advance in the strengthening of their social protection programs, a central element of policy that allows reducing existing inequalities, not only in terms of income, but also from an inclusive perspective in economic terms and social that promote social cohesion. Furthermore, for Icefi, reducing the exacerbation of the poverty conditions in which more than half of Central Americans live may be possible by universalizing access to social protection programs, since the current context has only accentuated the existing limitations in terms of of the economic and social model. A better Central America is possible to the extent that an inclusive development model is formulated and built in economic, social and environmental terms, so that a universal basic income ensures a minimum base of protection that is accompanied by policies that guarantee for all a quality education; access to timely, effective and efficient health services; have public services of economic and social infrastructure that favor social cohesion; and that all implemented policies are consistent with an environmentally friendly strategy.
During the first Worldwide Meeting of UBI Advocates and UBI Networks, held on 7th of April, 2020, comprising members of BIEN who were interested in advocacy, a proposal resolved to carry out a survey about the economic measures taken by different countries in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Our survey has three aims:
1) To discover how many jurisdictions/governments around the world, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, have claimed to have implemented a basic income, OR have implemented new measures that fulfil some characteristics and functions of a basic income, even if such new measures are not claimed to be basic income.
2) To explore and compare the social service context of each jurisdiction which has introduced a basic or partial-basic income scheme.
3) To find out more about the organizations whose remit is basic income only, and of those whose remit includes basic income among other ideas, and the extent to which these organizations work together.
This survey should be completed by an individual familiar with the defining characteristics of basic income on the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) website (basicincome.org/about-basic-income). You may be: – An office holder or another responsible member of an organization interested in basic income; – A Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) member; – An individual basic income advocate.
The team who produced the following survey includes; Liz Fouksman, Reinhard Huss, Ali Mutlu Köylüoğlu, Julio Linares, Annie Miller, Sheila Regehr, Toni Pickard and Malcolm Torry. We thank others who contributed to this process.
It was late October 2019, when different academics and activists from all over Latin America were preparing to meet in the south of Chile to share our ideas and perspectives on UBI for the first time. The idea of forming a regional basic income network had been present for a long time and people were eager to contribute to it.
Suddenly, Chilean police and army went to the streets to suppress unarmed protestors. What started as high-school students protesting the rising metro fees became the a turning point in Chile’s history. The basic income event was sadly cancelled but the seed of something else was planted.
Fast forward to early March 2020, together with Gabriela Cabaña we decided to kick-start the network. Our first call was on Monday, March 9th, one day after the biggest protest turnout in Chile, on the eve when petrol prices went negative and right before the COVID-19 pandemic spread to most countries. We did not know what to expect next.
After the Corona virus hit, the interest on basic income surged tremendously in Latin America. In a matter of months, UBI in Latin America has gone from being almost no-where in the political radar to being the politics of the future, with events discussing the idea in countries like Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Uruguay.
The Latin American Basic Income Network meets once a month. Since July and with the help of the Institute of Central American Fiscal Studies (ICEFI), the network has started to organize a series of talks in order to contextualize the importance of basic income in the region. You can watch the first one here, featuring Pablo Yanes (Mexico), Nelson Villarreal Durán (Uruguay) and Alejandra Zúñiga Fajuri (Chile), on the present importance of basic income.
Our goal is to produce a Latin American perspective on Basic Income, situating it in the socio-political context of the region on all it’s different dimensions, such as ecology, indigenous perspectives, welfare, democracy and so on. The next talk will be held on August 4th, 16h CDT, titled “Feminist Perspectives on Basic Income” which can be streamed live and viewed here.
Watch out for more news coming from the region! To get in touch, please contact us at: red-latinoamericana-de-renta-bsica@googlegroups.com
BIEN Congresses
The 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
