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 5, 2024 | News
Note: What the farmers are asking for does not meet the BIEN definition of a Basic Income since it is restricted to farmers.
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Farmers are calling for the government to grant them a universal basic income, saying the post-Brexit agriculture subsidy scheme has left many poorer.
Delays to the sustainable farming schemes put in place after the UK left the European Union, to replace the common agricultural policy (CAP), have meant that in England many farmers have been left out of pocket. The new regime initially suffered from low subscription rates, and the government has underspent hundreds of millions from the £2.4bn farming budget each year due to lack of sign-up.”
To read the full article in The Guardian, click here.
by Peter Knight | Mar 23, 2024 | News
Note: This pilot program’s recipients are means-tested so the program does not meet BIEN’s definition of basic income.
“Mayor Katjana Ballantyne joins more than 100 mayors from across the country as part of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a coalition of mayors who establish and advocate for local and national guaranteed income programs. Guaranteed income programs provide unrestricted cash payments directly to vulnerable residents to create greater financial stability for those most in need. Somerville’s program goes beyond that general goal; it also specifically aims to support housing stability. The city’s program will serve a group of the city’s lowest-income households who are at risk of losing their housing.”
To read the full article, click here.
by Guest Contributor | Mar 18, 2024 | News
Editor’s note: What is discussed here does not meet the BIEN definition of basic income since it is targeted
The ANC has again promised to introduce a permanent Basic Income Grant (BIG); however, the party has not committed to any timeline.
The proposal was again put forward by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s manifesto launch on 24 February.
Ramaphosa echoed his State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier in the month by again laying out that the ruling party would “progressively implement a basic income support grant by extending and improving the value and coverage of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant for the unemployed.”
To read the full article click here.
by Peter Knight | Aug 30, 2023 | News
Annie Miller, a co-founder of BIEN, has just published a new book, Basic Income: A Short Guide (Edinburgh: Luath Press). This is a clear, concise, and complete work that should be in the library of every supporter of basic income (BI).
The book begins with a critique of modern social insurance systems and means-tested social assistance safety nets and then sets forth an enhanced definition of BI that builds on the current definition found on the BIEN website. This new definition is informed by Annie’s participation in the BIEN task force currently working on improving this definition and was presented by her at the 22nd BIEN Congress in Seoul that just ended. To the five BIEN characteristics (periodic, cash payment, individual, universal, and unconditional) she adds a sixth, uniform: “the amount of a basic income is the same/equal for everyone within a given jurisdiction at a given time and does not vary according to pre-existing categories or circumstances.” She then argues that this uniform basic income should be a foundational element in a broader social protection plan that also includes “adequacy top-up payments, other differential benefits, targeted and non-uniform means-tested benefits, and other cash benefits for which basic income is not a good substitute, such as a welfare fund for emergency payments for fire or flood.”
The book goes on to discuss many practical issues such as integrating a basic income into existing social assistance programs, sources of finance, affordability issues, economic benefits, political support, empirical evidence from around the world, the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, other recent developments, and suggestions for what BI supporters can do to advance the cause. It ends with a select bibliography – all this in 80 compact pages, a true tour de force.
