by Malcolm Torry | Jul 6, 2020 | News, Research
The Basic Income Conversation is launching a Summer Discussion Series on Basic Income. It’s a 3 part series that explores the Future of Work, Pilots, and Monetary Financing – some of the most talked about subjects when it comes to UBI.
The first event is on Wednesday 15th July, 6.30pm on Basic Income & the Future of Work. It’s hosted by Prof Nick Pearce (IPR at University of Bath) who’s joined by author Daniel Susskind and Director of Future of Work Anna Thoma
The second will be on Monday 27th July, 6.30 p.m. on Basic Income Pilots: Learning from Finland and Scotland: Michael Pugh, the Director of the Basic Income Conversation, will be joined by Olli Kangas (University of Turku, Finland) and Paul Vaughan (Fife Council)
The third event will be on Money on Monday 10th August, 6.30pm on Paying for Basic Income: Monetary Financing and Sovereign with Frances Coppola, Geoff Crocker, and Emma Dawnay.
The series is a preparation for launching a Research Network in the Autumn which aims to bring together researchers and academics working on UBI.
Further information from Michael Pugh, Director, Basic Income Conversation
by Malcolm Torry | Jul 2, 2020 | News
Rachel Sandler has written an article for the Forbes website about an increasing number of US cities planning to establish Basic Income pilot projects.
The mayors of Los Angeles; Oakland, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Tacoma, Washington, Newark, New Jersey; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Jackson, Mississippi; Compton, California; Shreveport, Louisiana and Stockton, California, have joined Mayors For A Guaranteed Income, a coalition advocating for UBI policies, or the idea of giving out recurring cash payments to all individuals without any strings attached.
Readers of the article might wish to be aware that some of the terminology used in the article is somewhat indeterminate in its meaning. According to BIEN’s definition, a Basic Income is ‘a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement’. The article sometimes uses the term ‘guaranteed income’, which can mean either a Basic Income or a means-tested benefit: and it is not always clear which is meant. Readers might also wish to be aware that the experiments in Canada and the Netherlands are testing income-tested benefits, and so are not Basic Income pilot projects according to BIEN’s definition of Basic Income.
by Lewis Small | Jul 1, 2020 | News
There is a translation of this article into French
The newly formed Government of the 33rd Dáil has committed to trialling Basic Income (BI) in Ireland over the next five years. The announcement was made in the Programme for Government (PfG) agreed between Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. The document details a long list of actions that the next government aims to implement, with this commitment on BI being included under ‘Anti-poverty and Social Inclusion Measures’ on p.86:
[We will] request the Low Pay Commission to examine Universal Basic Income, informed by a review of previous international pilots, and resulting in a universal basic income pilot in the lifetime of the Government.
If the plans go ahead Ireland will join a growing list of countries that have begun making concrete plans to implement a form of Basic Income, but questions have been raised over the substance of the commitments made, and how they will play out in practice.
Anne Ryan, Joint Co-ordinator at Basic Income Ireland – the national body for the promotion of a BI in Ireland – commented:
We would like to see this as part of a commitment to introduce a full permanent basic income for all within the next five years. Trials and pilots have already been carried out in Europe and worldwide and all have shown positive effects. Replicating them in Ireland may not be the best use of time and money when we already know that basic income is one key element of the infrastructure for building a caring society, smart economy, inclusiveness and equality.
Further concerns have been raised over the decision to appoint the Low Pay Comission to lead on the commitments, and the risk that political in-fighting poses for the focus and relevance of any agreed trial.
Responding to a draft version of the PfG, Social Justice Ireland commented:
The PfG contains a plan to have the Low Pay Commission (LPC) examine Universal Basic Income. Issues relating to the role of government in providing a minimum floor below which the living standards of its citizens should not slip go far beyond the remit of the LPC. The Commission on Welfare and Taxation would be a far more appropriate home.(p.3)
Any decision to shift the examination of BI to a different body would require consensus among the three parties, and whilst Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have previously outlined support for BI, Fine Gael has consistently rejected the idea.
Dr Seán Healy, CEO of Social Justice Ireland – who has promoted BI in Ireland for 35 years – added:
Care must be taken to ensure this initiative is not defeated because of the opposition of a single political party when a majority of the Government are prepared to give it a fair trial. In 2002, the Irish Government published a Green Paper on Basic Income which was relatively positive – it is imperative that we do not have a repetition of the failure to give the proposal fair consideration.
How the PfG commitment pans out will therefore depend very much on both the character of the review and the design of the trial. The focus must be on ensuring that these proceed in a positive spirit, led by people who have a genuine interest in making BI a reality.
