by Andre Coelho | Sep 6, 2019 | News
It’s called the Workers Strength Fund, and is financially and operationally backed by Commonwealth, Google.org, the Rockefeller Foundation and Prudential Financial. This new organization is unconditionally giving $1000 to 500 (randomly selected) precarious workers living in the cities of Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco and New York. The cash is intended as a one-off payment, much like an emergency package to face unexpected expenses that many Americans cannot afford (the Federal Reserve estimates that 40% of Americans cannot face an unexpected 400$ cost).
This particular unconditional cash transfer pilot project, running since July and going through the end of this year, is collecting data on how subjects spend the money, as well as trying to understand how their feeling of security is affected by knowing they can draw on an emergengy 1000$ if the get the need for it. Proponents of the pilot are convinced people will feel less burdened and hence better able to make informed decisions, if their feeling of security increases.
Not being an Universal Basic Income experiment, since, in this case, it doesn’t provide a regular payment, nor covers monthly basic needs, nor the beneficiaries sample covers the whole of American society (but only a small subset of precarious low-wage workers), it is nonetheless an experiment on unconditionality, hence trust.
Rachel Schneider (economy expert, author of “The Financial Diaries: How American Families Cope in a World of Uncertainty”) and David Weil (Dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and the Worker Strength Fund’s Lead Policy & Research Advisor) are two of the main thinkers and movers of this project.
More information at:
Sarah Holder, “A Free $1,000 That Isn’t Andrew Yang’s UBI“, Citylab, September 2nd 2019
by Andre Coelho | Sep 3, 2019 | News
International Basic Income Week is starting on 16th September. Posters and flyers can be found here.
This year, there will be 3 worldwide SYNCHRONISED Basic Income Week actions:
- Facebook Profile Pictures
Overlay your Facebook profile picture or add a frame
- 2nd international “Basic Income Beer” – Friday, 20th September 2019
Meet with local ubi supporters in a relaxed atmosphere for food & drink in cafes, bars, pubs, restaurants, etc. (beer only optional!) to exchange, network and inform interested locals. Link up with the initiators in Berlin and Stockholm
- Basic Income March – originally scheduled for Basic Income Week – has been changed to 26th October 2019
Join the New York initiative with your own march (in your town). The Basic Income March, led by Basic Income NYC, is set for 26th October 2019. It will already be accompanied by a Basic Income March in Berlin. To join, instructions can be found here, and here.
All Basic Income Week 2019 events can be found and added on the global event’s calendar.
by Andre Coelho | Aug 30, 2019 | News
Nohad A Nassif recently self-published her first book “Arab Humanist: The Necessity of Basic Income“. It is an unashamedly autobiographical story, which talks about how she ran away from her family while living in Austin, Texas, and what happened to her when she became homeless. The book contains story art and commentary sections on Basic Income.
Nohad believes that everyone deserves to live with basic dignity. In order to achieve that, she insists that a Universal Basic Income is a necessary and fundamental human right, which will protect people from exploitation, harassment, and violence.
Michelle Heron has written an article on the book, included in the Arab Humanist website.
by Andre Coelho | Aug 28, 2019 | News
This new book from Richard Pereira (and contributors Albert Jörimann (BIEN Switzerland) and Gary Flomenhoft (University of Vermont)) argues that basic income at a decent level is, in fact, affordable. The contributors approach the topic from the perspectives of three different countries — Canada, Switzerland, and Australia — to overcome objections that a universal program to keep all citizens above the poverty line would be too expensive to implement. They assess the complex array of revenue sources that can make universal basic income feasible, from the underestimated value of public program redundancies to new and so far unaccounted publicly owned assets.
The book proposes two basic incomes – one traditional and one based on economic rent, along the lines of the
Freedom Dividend. The tradicional approach would eliminate many oppressive bureaucratic, expensive and ineffective programs and direct the money to a higher basic income, while preserving universal healthcare, public education funding and other vital public programs. It demonstrates that this can be achieved without raising income taxes, or taxes on labour income.
The authors believe this to be the most progressive proposal in the literature. The basic income proposed would eliminate poverty (it meets the official poverty line threshold) and, above all, would be feasible and affordable, while addressing economic externalities and economic rent in ways that other proposals have not.
by Andre Coelho | Aug 26, 2019 | News
According to the latest data, 20,8% of Manitobans live below the poverty line. This is one of the highest rates of poverty in the country. For the first time, three of Manitoba’s major political parties have announced their support for basic income.
So far, the Green Party of Manitoba, the Manitoba Liberal Party and the Manitoba NDP have each proposed a form of basic income as part of their campaign platforms. Only the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba has yet to release a plan.
“A basic income ensures everyone has the ability to afford basic needs like clothing, shelter and food,” said Paul Walsh, chair of Basic Income Manitoba. “Everyone has the right to live a life with dignity.”
Manitoba was home to one of the first basic income pilot projects. The Mincome experiment, situated in Dauphin, Winnipeg, and a few smaller towns in the 1970s, proved to have positive impacts on health, education and social inclusion. Other pilot projects have been conducted in Ontario (stopped midway), Finland, the Netherlands and elsewhere.
Basic Income Manitoba, a local non-profit organization, has launched a petition calling on elected and re-elected MLAs in Manitoba to study, evaluate and research the implementation of basic income in the province.
“We have launched this campaign to fight for change in the way poverty reduction is handled in this province. Basic income is a compassionate and cost-effective response to gaps in our current social systems,” said Walsh.
The petition will be presented to the legislature following the election on September 10th, 2019.
by Andre Coelho | Aug 18, 2019 | News
The Law School at the
Universidad Austral de Chile (Sede Puerto Montt) is hosting an international colloquium on “La Renta Basica Universal ¿un nuevo enfoque para Latinoamérica?” (Universal Basic Income: A new perspective for Latin America?) on the 30th October 2019.
Featuring participants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico and Uruguay, the workshop provides an overview of how the basic income debate is developing in different countries in the region. Participants will also reflect on what (if anything) makes for a distinctive Latin American perspective on universal basic income, and discuss how recent developments in the region affect prospects for introducing it. The colloquium coincides with a legislative proposal for a basic income in Chile, to be introduced by
Giorgio Jackson, Member of the Chilean Parliament for
Revolución Democrática.
Confirmed participants include:
* Julio Leonidas Aguirre (Argentina)
* José Miguel Busquets (Uruguay)
* Gabriela Cabaña (Chile)
* Paola Carvalho (Brasil)
* Leandro Ferreira (Brasil)
* Giorgio Jackson (Chile)
* Julio Linares (Guatemala)
* Rubén Lo Vuolo (Argentina)
* Ricardo Marquisio (Uruguay)
* Leticia Morales (Chile)
* Carolina Pérez Dattari (Chile)
* Corina Rodríguez Enríquez (Argentina)
* Pablo Yanes (México)
