by Peter Knight | May 3, 2024 | News
Photo by Ioann-Mark Kuznietsov on Unsplash
Note: These pilot programs do not meet BIEN’s definition of basic income.
“Ingrid Sullivan, 48, used her cash from the San Antonio guaranteed basic-income program to rent a home where her grandchildren can play in the yard. And Monique Gonzalez, 41, moved herself and her family out of a San Antonio motel.
A Denver resident, Jarun Laws, 51, used his basic income to pay his rent and buy food.
“My life was always just a couple hundred dollars short,” Sullivan told Business Insider. “For the first time, I can breathe.”
Guaranteed basic income has become an increasingly popular poverty-solution strategy in US cities. Over 50 municipalities have tried the GBI model since 2019, offering low-income participants between $100 and $1,000 a month, no strings attached, for a set time period.
To read the full article in Business Insider, click here.
by Guest Contributor | May 1, 2024 | News
“Across the country, city-led guaranteed income programs are delivering unrestricted payments to struggling households, including those ineligible for other aid. Conservative critics are pushing back.
By J.J. McCorvey
Just weeks after Kiki Ramos received her first $500 monthly payment from the Richmond Resilience Initiative, her car was stolen.
“It would have been a big domino effect if I didn’t have this extra money,” she said.
Her damaged vehicle was soon recovered, but without the additional cash, the 33-year-old pharmacy technician couldn’t have afforded to get it fixed or secure a rental in the meantime, given her $1,000 insurance deductible. That would’ve meant figuring out car pools or public transportation to and from work, and little ability to shuttle her boys, ages 12 and 3, to doctor’s appointments and recreational activities.
To read the full article, click here.
by Peter Knight | Apr 26, 2024 | News
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
An article by Eric Reinhart, M.D. has been published this month. Teaser:
“What the expanded child tax credit essentially did, at a cost of $128 billion over 1 year (less than 2% of the federal budget, 3% of 2023 U.S. health care spending, or 7% of the 2023 U.S. defense budget), was provide a guaranteed basic income for families with children. For many of the nearly 40 million U.S. residents living in poverty, this provision of public support in the form of basic income didn’t merely reduce poverty; it had a dramatic stabilizing effect and substantially improved their health and experience of everyday life.”
To read and/or download the full article, click here.
by Peter Knight | Apr 24, 2024 | News
Photo by Darpan on Unsplash
Note: Like many pilot programs, this one does not meet the BIEN definition of basic income because it is not universal for residents in its geographic region.
“A Seattle-area guaranteed basic income pilot gave low-income residents $500 a month to help reduce poverty. Employment in the group nearly doubled, and numerous unhoused residents secured housing.
The Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County launched a 10-month guaranteed basic income pilot program with 102 participants in fall 2022. New findings by research firm Applied Inference reveal that the $5,000 total payments improved participants’ quality of life, housing, and employment outcomes.”
To read the full Business Insider article, click here.
To read the full report by Applied Inference, LLC click here.
by Peter Knight | Apr 15, 2024 | Events, News
“Event Title: FRIBIS Lecture Series – Can a Basic Income Grant Reduce Violence? Evidence from Namibia, Kenya, and Uganda Date & Time: April 23, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Format: Online Event Organizers: FRIBIS in cooperation with the BIP & WEF_FABI teams Zoom Link: https://uni-freiburg.zoom.us/j/67974655698?pwd=Mk4rY3BaM3VkK2ptYmpVUVFXcU1PUT09 Contact: Geoff Harris, geoffreyh@dut.ac.za
Event Summary: Youth in Africa are in search of wage employment and expect their governments to provide such opportunities. However, the demographic surge of youth, coupled with low job creation in both the private and public sectors, leaves many young people unemployed and dissatisfied, often leading to various forms of violence. This lecture examines the potential of a Basic Income Grant (BIG) for all adults as a means to mitigate such violence. There is ample evidence from developing countries, including several African nations, showing that BIG can not only reduce household poverty but also enhance personal and interpersonal peace, thereby reducing various forms of violence.
About the Speaker: Geoff Harris, an economist with over 30 years of teaching and research experience in peace studies, has been a Professor at the International Centre of Nonviolence at Durban University of Technology in South Africa since 2012. His most recent edited book – The Elgar Companion to War, Conflict and Peacebuilding in Africa – was published in February 2024.”
