by Andre Coelho | Sep 22, 2019 | News
The pilot project which is being carried out in Barcelona – B-MINCOME – combining guaranteed minimum income and active social policies in Barcelona’s deprived urban areas– published a report, on July 2019, with the results of its first operational year (2017-2018). The experiment, which began in October 2017 and is due by the end of 2019, aims to reduce poverty and social exclusion in highly vulnerable groups. During these 24 months, and based on a Randomised Control Trial model, 1000 households (randomly) selected from three of the city’s poorest districts (Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Sant Martí) have been receiving a maximum cash transfer of €1675 a month. Of these 1000 households, 550 have also taken part in four active-inclusion policies which the project has set up: one for training and employment; one of fostering entrepreneurship in the social, solidarity and cooperative economy; one with grants for refurbishing flats in order to rent out rooms; and one involving community participation.
What makes this project so innovative is that it combines four modes of participation: Conditional (people randomly assigned to an active policy are obliged to take part in it), Unconditional (participation in these policies is not a condition for receiving the income), Limited (any additional income that might be obtained proportionally reduces the amount of the cash transfer) and Non-limited (where this additional income does not reduce the amount of the transfer).
Apart from reducing poverty and fostering personal autonomy, the B-MINCOME’s overall objective is to test which modality of income transfer is the most effective (concerning results) and the most efficient (concerning implementation costs). This experiment or pilot project is, therefore, an initial step towards implementing a municipal income-transfer system which should be consolidated in the near future.
In line with the results obtained in similar experiments, such as the one in Manitoba during the 1970s, the Finish one, the one suddenly cancelled in Ontario and those that are now coming to a close in various Dutch cities, such as Utrecht, the report now published by the Barcelona City Council shows very positive quantitative results. For example, an 11% average increase in general well-being and a 1,4% increase in economic well-being. It also shows an 8% reduction in the severe material privation index, and a reduction of up to 18% in ‘worrying about not having enough food’. It is also worth noting the 3% average reduction in the need to get money through means other than employment (e.g. by renting out rooms, a problem that especially affects the city of Barcelona) or the decreasing trend in developing mental illnesses and an improved quality of sleep, by 10% and 1% respectively – two results associated with a reduction in the financial stress suffered by these families. Furthermore, the qualitative and ethnographic evaluation of the project also reveals positive impacts, such as an increase of nearly 28% in happiness and general satisfaction with life, as well as a significant increase in engagement with and participation in neighbourhood and community life.
However, the report does not detect statistically significant changes in housing insecurity or in the households’ ability to cope with unexpected expenses (although this cash-transfer is not designed to make savings possible but only to meet basic expenses). Furthermore, no significant results have been observed regarding work placement or in other dimensions related to employment. However, it should be noted that this result was expected and is in line with other similar experiments, which also confirms the initial hypothesis: people in the Conditioned modality experienced a “lock-in effect”, as their (compulsory) participation in the active policies may have meant they had less time to look for work. However, it should be noted that most participants were suffering from a high degree of exclusion or job precariousness prior to the start of the project. It was, therefore, unrealistic to expect ambitious results in this sense.
The referred report only contains results obtained during the first year of the project, and hence the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the project can only be definitively evaluated in early 2020.
Given the recipients’ highly vulnerable profile, and the fact that these results come from a single year of (the pilot’s) implementation, there are motives for optimism. Final results are expected to be more significant and consistent from a statistical perspective, plus even more encouraging from a substantive point of view, i.e. in improving beneficiaries’ quality of life, increasing their freedom and autonomy and reducing their dependence on other public subsidies.
Written by Bru Laín (bru.lain@ub.edu). Affiliate professor of Sociology (University of Barcelona), researcher at the B-MINCOME project and Secretary of the Spanish Basic Income Network
Reviewed by André Coelho
by Andre Coelho | Sep 10, 2019 | News
On wednesday, the 2nd October 2019, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, professor Guy Standing will be presenting his new book “Plunder of the Commons: a manifesto for sharing public wealth” at the London School of Economics (LSE) Joining him will be Caroline Lucas (MP for Brighton Pavilion) and David Lammy (Labour MP for Tottenham), in a discussion that will be chaired by Mike Savage (Professor of Sociology at LSE and Director of the International Inequalities Institute).
From the event’s page at the LSE website, it can be read:
This presentation will draw on a new book to show how all forms of commons have been taken in the neo-liberal era, through enclosure, commodification, privatisation and, most shockingly, colonisation. It will highlight how this has increased inequality. It will conclude by outlining the key components of a 44-Article Charter of the Commons that could be an integrated part of an ecologically progressive politics in Britain and elsewhere.
Entrance in the event is free.
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 21, 2019 | Opinion, The Indepentarian
This is a draft version of my forward to the book, Implementing a Basic Income in Australia: Pathways Forward edited by Elise Klein, Jennifer Mays, and Tim Dunlop New York: Palgrave-Macmillan 2019
Back in 1999, when I first started following international developments on Basic Income (BI), not much was going on in Australia. Allan McDonald had been writing about BI in the newsletter for a group called Organisation Advocating Support Income Studies in Australia (OASIS-Australia), but when he stepped down in 2002, no one was available to take over.
But over the last several years, interest in BI in Australia has picked up greatly. Australians inside and outside of academia are producing a lot of research and literature on it, and that work is beginning to have a major impact on politics. Australia’s two major parties might not yet be ready to endorse BI, but they can no longer ignore it. And in fact, the Australian Greens, a party that often holds the balance-of-power in Australia’s federal Upper House, have officially adopted BI as party policy.
Australia has become not simply one of the countries where BI is regularly discussed, but very possibly a major world centre for UBI activity. One sign is that the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), the only worldwide BI network, has selected Australia for the location of its 2020 conference.
Another sign became obvious to me in 2017 when Elise Klein invited me to come to Australia to speak at a BI conference. Members of Basic Income Guarantee Australia (BIGA) took the opportunity to set me up for as many talks or meetings as I could do in the time I had. That turned out to be a whirlwind of seven appearances in four days in three cities—Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne. I spoke with members of parliament, with members of the media, with academics, and with university students. I slept on a train and on a plane, and I managed to stay awake for all or most of the two-day, BI research conference in Melbourne, where I learned a lot and had the chance to meet many of the authors of this book. I was impressed by the breadth and depth of BI work going on in Australia.
A third sign that Australia has become a major world centre for BI research can be found in the publication of the book, Implementing a Basic Income in Australia: Pathways Forward edited by Elise Klein, Jennifer Mays, and Tim Dunlop (Palgrave Macmillan 2019). It includes a dozen authors from fields as diverse as Anthropology, Development, Economics, Geography, Journalism, Political Economy, Political Science, Public Health, Social Work, and Sociology. It addresses major empirical and philosophical issues of implementing BI in Australia. Although all or most of the chapters are written in a way that will be interesting to an international audience, parts of the book’s focus is on issues that will be especially interesting in the Australian context, such as the specific problems and opportunities for BI in very remote areas as well as its value as a tool to counter the effects of Australian settler colonialism.
The book pays special attention to the political barriers in the way of implementation of BI in Australia and to the opportunities and prospects for political strategies to move BI forward. These include proposals to start with group-focused transfers, such as BI for young people; proposals for how community groups, professionals, and activists can effectively advocate for BI; and proposals for fitting BI into the existing welfare system.
Although these lessons come from the Australian context, the value of this book for the BI movement all over the world needs to be appreciated. It’s a book about implementation—an issue that needs much more analysis by the global BI researchers and activists. Social, economic, and political strategies for BI need to be explored in different ways in every conceivable context. Comparative analysis of different strategies in different contexts is how we’ll truly learn what works and what doesn’t, and this book provides a valuable contribution to that effort.
The book is an excellent read and a valuable resource for researchers, students and anyone interested in BI.
-Karl Widerquist, Doha, Qatar, December 8, 2018
Table of contents (14 chapters)
- Introduction: Implementing a Basic Income in Australia
Pages 1-20
Klein, Elise (et al.)
- Basic Income in Australia: Implementation Challenges
Pages 23-43
Marston, Greg
- Basic Income in the Current Climate: If Australia Can Implement Other Universal Provisions, Then Why Not a Basic Income?
Pages 45-68
Mays, Jennifer
- Feminist Perspectives on Basic Income
Pages 69-85
Cox, Eva
- Basic Income and Cultural Participation for Remote-Living Indigenous Australians
Pages 87-109
Altman, Jon (et al.)
- Diversion Ahead? Change Is Needed but That Doesn’t Mean That Basic Income Is the Answer
Pages 111-126
Bowman, Dina (et al.)
- Finding a Political Strategy for a Basic Income in Australia
Pages 129-145
Hollo, Tim
- Basic or Universal? Pathways for a Universal Basic Income
Pages 147-161
Quiggin, John
- Stepping Stones to an Australian Basic Income
Pages 163-178
Spies-Butcher, Ben (et al.)
- What About Young People? Why a Basic Income for Young People Matters
Pages 179-198
Kaighin, Jenny
- Situating a Basic Income Alongside Paid Work Policies
Pages 199-213
Scott, Andrew
- Social Work, Human Services and Basic Income
Pages 215-235
Ablett, Phillip (et al.)
- Basic Income in Canada: Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead
Pages 237-257
Mulvale, James P. (et al.)
- Concluding Remarks and an Invitation
Pages 259-262
Klein, Elise (et al.)
Elise Klein
by Andre Coelho | May 31, 2019 | News
Maricá at a distance.
Original article by Eduardo Suplicy
Last Saturday, May 25th 2019, an event took place in Maricá, a city on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, where the mayor Fabiano Horta (representant from PT, Partido dos Trabalhadores), vice mayor Marcos Ribeiro and the secretary of Solidarity Economy, Diego Zeidan, announced that, from July 2019 onward, 50000 citizens, a third of its 150000 inhabitants, will receive a Citizen’s Basic Income of 130 Mumbucas, a local electronic currency, equivalent to 130 reais, or US$ 32,5 per month. The plan is to have all Maricá’s citizens receiving this unconditional cash, at least until the end of the present city government legislature.
Longtime politician (presently councilman in the City of São Paulo) and basic income activist Eduardo Suplicy had already explained the advantages of implementing basic income in Brazil, as a part of a general upgrade of social policy in the country. That policy, actually, has been written into Brazilian law since 2004 (Law 10.835/2004), but sanctioned by president Lula on January 8th 2004. There, it says that a basic income shall be rolled out in Brazil, step by step, starting with those most in need, until one day it benefits all citizens.
After an important Conference on Human Rights, held in Brazil in December 2015, where Suplicy reinforced his views, Maricá’s mayor at the time, Washington Quaquá, manifested his intention of implementing the Citizen’s Basic Income in his city. That same month, he was able to pass his purpose into municipal law, which would be introduced in phases: 95 Mumbucas per month in 2016 (85 Mumbucas from a Minimum Income program, plus 10 Mumbucas/month), 130 Mumbucas per month in 2017 (110 Mumbucas from the Minimum Income program, plus 20 Mumbucas/month), disbursed to 14000 families, and now in 2019, starting in July, that same amount will be enlarged to cover 50000 individuals. This payment will be now limited to citizens who belong to families enrolled in the Unique Register, having monthly incomes lower than three minimum wages (1 minimum wage is equal to around 1000 reais/month), but expected to cover all citizens in the village by 2021.
So, the ongoing cash transfer in Maricá is done in a non-transferable social local currency (Mumbuca), is set to cover one third of the population (although projected to cover the whole population by 2021), and amounts to the equivalent of 67% of the individual official poverty line in Brazil (1). Although far from ideal, this is a very significant step when in comparison to some recent basic income test trials such as in Finland (2000 unemployed citizens receiving 560 €/month for two years), Stockton California (125 citizens receiving 500 US$/month for 18 months), Namibia (1000 people in Otijivero receiving the equivalent to 12 US$/month, for 12 months) and India (6000 people in Madhya Pradesh receiving 300 (adults) and 150 (children) rupees/month, for 36 months).
Even though the Mumbuca is a local currency, most commercial stores in Maricá accept it. Also, a Communitary Bank Mumbuca was created in order to provide microcredit at zero interest rates, in Mumbucas, which can also fund housing projects. Maricá mayors (Quaquá and Horta) have, on the other hand, introduced social security measures / programs alongside with this more general basic income approach. For instance, a minimum income program has been created for pregnant mothers and youngsters. Additionally, starting in 2019, another specific program was initiated, dispensing 300 Mumbucas/month to 200 indigenous people that live in small villages near Maricá. There is also a Future Mumbuca program for young people, that are currently enrolled in high school courses involving solidary economy and entrepreneurship, which will pay 1200 Mumbucas per year. In that program, the valued is transferred once the youngster completes high school, starts a firm, a cooperative or becomes an undergraduate student.
Other social support programs have been created in Maricá, over the years, such as free transportation (14 lines in Maricá’s urban area), and special conditions for university students (around 4000), in and out of Maricá. Plenty other public investments were made in education, health, and even organic farming. This unusual plentiful municipal budget (16665 reais/inhabitant, compared to São Paulo’s 5041 reais/inhabitant) is the product of oil exploration royalties along Maricá’s coast. Despite the inherent pollutant nature of this municipal revenue stream, past and present city mayors have been investing in providing better living conditions for the population within their administration’s borders. This way, Maricá has become a bright example for all municipalities in Brazil, as well as for the federal government.
Note (1) – The official poverty line in Brazil stands at 387 reais/month per family. Considering a two-adult composition in each family, this equates to 194 reais/month per (adult) individual.
Article reviewed by André Coelho
by Tyler Prochazka | Mar 28, 2019 | News
A nearly-packed auditorium of mostly young Taiwanese arrived on an early Saturday morning to learn about Universal Basic Income and its role in addressing key trends for the next generation.
This is the third year UBI Taiwan held its international summit in Taipei to push discussion of basic income on March 16. This year’s conference focused on the challenges Taiwan and the global economy is facing in the coming decade and what steps could be taken to make basic income a feasible solution.
Dr. Sarath Davala, vice chair of Basic Income Earth Network, was the keynote speaker for the second year in a row. Davala said this year’s attendees were even more enthusiastic.
“UBI Taiwan exudes unique energy and dedication to the idea of basic income. This kind of energy is perhaps rare in the basic income movement. Nowhere in the world, have I seen such critical mass of students collectively excited about basic income,” Davala said.
Dr. Ryan Engen, an economic officer at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the unofficial U.S. embassy in Taiwan, gave the opening speech for the conference. Engen said basic income is “perhaps the most promising policy” to address Taiwan and the world’s economic transformations.
“If you can succeed in what you are trying to do, I actually think it has the potential to be the tipping point that changes the direction for the rest of the world, and that’s not an exaggeration,” Engen said.
In justifying the need to explore basic income, Engen discussed how the return on capital has outstripped income, which has exacerbated global income inequality.
The world is moving toward nationalism as a result of globalization and automation, which requires “creating a new global social contract that leaves nobody behind,” Engen said.
Guy Standing, BIEN’s co-founder, provided a video message for the conference Taiwan. He said Taiwan’s activists should frame basic income primarily in human rights terms, rather than as just an economic policy.
“Basic income is a matter of social justice,” Standing said. “We believe every man, woman, and child has a right to a share of the public wealth of the Commons from the wealth generated over generations, whether it is in Taiwan, China, Britain or anywhere else.”
Standing said while basic income would reduce poverty, this should not be the primary focus of Taiwan’s UBI movement.
“We must constantly stress the ethical basis of the campaign for basic income,” Standing said.
In the final round-table discussion, Ta-Ching Shih, a Taiwanese economic specialist at AIT, said basic income activists in Taiwan must first get attention to the idea and then focus on the policy specifics later.
Peter Knight, a former World Bank economist and a member of Fernand Braudel Institute of World Economics, also produced a video message for the conference where he discussed the economic rationale for basic income.
Knight said Taiwan is likely to face high levels of job automation in the coming years, along with Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. Taiwan’s coming status as a super-aged society may also induce consideration of whether basic income could help alleviate this issue, he said.
“UBI and progressive taxation to finance it, and the use of advanced labor-saving technologies are the key policies for Taiwan to achieve economic, social, political, and ecological sustainability,” Knight said.
Professor Ku Yun-wen from National Taiwan University’s Social Work Department went through a detailed analysis of Taiwan’s welfare policies and discussed how basic income may fit into the system.
Ku had previously written a report on UBI for Taiwan’s National Development Council, Taiwan’s Executive Yuan policy planning agency.
Professor Fong from National Taiwan University’s Economic’s Department provided insight into some of the relevant economic trends to basic income, such as increasing automation and its potential impact in Taiwan.
The conference was assisted in funding from the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship through the Alumni Development Fund (ADF).
Before Alan Krueger passed away, he discussed the prospects of basic income in Taiwan with James Davis, one of the managers for this ADF project. Krueger was the former chair of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Krueger agreed Taiwan implementing basic income would likely inspire conversation around the world. However, Krueger said “there is a lot of work to be done.”
Professor Hou-ming Huang, the director of National Chengchi University’s Sociology Department, presented on the economic and philosophical transitions of humanity throughout history.
A journalist from Taiwan’s magazine The Reporter spoke on the misinformation that is often spread in Taiwan and global media regarding basic income.
Despite this misinformation, Davala said he is optimistic about the future of basic income’s development in Taiwan.
“I am sure that the debate in Taiwan will progress beyond conference halls and to the policy corridors,” Davala said.
Engen ended his remarks by noting Taiwan could play a very important role in the global UBI movement.
Taiwan is a “melting pot” of international influence and is at the center of global supply chains, Engen pointed out. Taiwan is also the “most progressive example in all of the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
“UBI happening here in Taiwan is very different than it happening anywhere else because Taiwan is a fully developed market democracy that is a technology epicenter of the world,” Engen said. “If UBI happened here it would send ripple effects around the world.”
In the run-up to the conference, Elyse Mark and Brian Anderson, who were also managers of the ADF project, produced interviews with U.S. scholars. Mark interviewed a legislative director for a councilmember of the District of Columbia council who produced a policy report on implementing minimum income in DC. Anderson interviewed an economist to understand the benefits of basic income across Taiwan and the United States. Davis also worked with Stanford’s Basic Income Lab to understand the context for how research there could help propel basic income frameworks for Taiwan.
