by Julen Bollain | Dec 17, 2024 | Research
A pioneering study has been published, providing the first comprehensive analysis of the financial feasibility of a European Basic Income (EBI). The research demonstrates that guaranteeing the right to existence for everyone in the European Union (EU) is not only economically viable but also promotes a more equitable and cohesive Europe.
Basic income—an unconditional, periodic cash payment to all individuals—has gained significant attention as a potential tool to address rising inequality, poverty, and labour market transformations. Despite increasing interest, no study until now has examined the financing of an EBI at the scale needed to ensure the material existence of all EU residents.
Key findings of the study:
- Eradication of poverty: The proposed EBI would eliminate poverty across the EU.
- Redistribution of wealth: The Gini index, a measure of inequality, would improve significantly from 0.3756 (pre-EBI) to 0.3000 (post-EBI).
- Benefit for the many: 63.2% of European households would see an improvement in their economic position, with the impact concentrated among the most vulnerable.
- Affordable cost: The total cost of the EBI is estimated at just 2.71% of the GDP of the EU-26.
The EBI would be financed through a combination of tax reforms, including adjustments to income tax, the introduction of a European wealth tax, and a greenhouse gas emissions tax. Crucially, the study demonstrates that these measures can fund the EBI sustainably without reducing existing tax revenues.
This research marks a critical step in proving that a European Basic Income is not only a utopian ideal but a realistic policy solution to create a fairer, more inclusive society. By addressing economic disparities and ensuring material security for all, a EBI could strengthen social cohesion and advance the European project.
The study also emphasizes that the redistribution achieved through the EBI would benefit the majority of the population while limiting losses to the wealthiest deciles, ensuring equity and fairness in its implementation.
About the study
The research was conducted by Julen Bollain, Jordi Arcarons, Daniel Raventós and Lluís Torrens and published in Poverty and Public Policy. It utilises a robust microsimulation model to analyse the financial and social impacts of the EBI, drawing on data from across the EU-26.
To read the full study, click here:
Correspondence: Julen Bollain, Mondragon University (Faculty of Business Studies), Ibarra Zelaia 2, Oñati (20560), Span. To send Julen an email, click here
by Peter Knight | Jan 25, 2024 | News
A new study prepared by Maine Center for Economic Policy on behalf of the Committee to Study the Feasibility of Basic Income Security is now available. To access the study, click here.
by Malcolm Torry | Jun 11, 2020 | News
The group studying the desirability and feasibility of a Basic Income pilot project in Scotland has published its final report.
“PARTNERS involved in exploring the feasibility of a Citizens’ Basic Income (CBI) pilot in Scotland have completed the draft final report on their findings. The report concludes a CBI pilot is desirable, but recognises the significant challenges involved. … “
To read the report, click here.
An article from the BBC about the feasibility study can be found here.
Further analysis of the report will follow soon from BIEN’s affiliate, Citizen’s Basic Income Scotland.
by Andre Coelho | Oct 9, 2019 | News
The Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu)
As reported before, an Estonian collective of basic income activists, led by Jaanus Nurmoja, delivered a petition to the Social Affairs Committee (SAC) of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu), calling for the investigation of a universal basic income (UBI) implementation in Estonia, on March 29th 2019. Five months later – three months passed from the excepted date of reply – the SAC decides not to study the issue, although that apparently contradicts the initiative expressed text, and Estonian Law. In the words of SAC’s spokesman (Tõnis Mölder), pronounced at the committee meeting on Tuesday, 17th of September 2019: “At the moment, however, the implementation of such a system in Estonia does not seem reasonable, as there is no financial analysis and no assurance that the current social system could be replaced by something more efficient”.
According to the activists, this decision is not consistent with Estonian Law, since the Working Rules Act is not being observed. Abiding to these rules would imply only rejecting proposals submitted “less than two years earlier or obviously [violating] constitutional principles of Estonia and international agreements”. Also, these argue that the rejection is based on a self-referring (circular) argumentation: that the proposal of investigating UBI in Estonia cannot be accepted, because there has not been any investigation on UBI in Estonia. This led the activists to question if the proposal text had even been read in full by the SAC members.
Jannus Nurmonia and the other co-signatories of the “Investigating the Feasibility and Impact of Unconditional Basic Income (Civic Salary) in Estonia” petition are now calling for a withdrawal of this decision, postponing the actual discussion of the proposal for the next SAC meeting. They are convinced a UBI will eventually be unavoidable in Estonia, and so starting feasibility studies over it should start as soon as possible.
More information at:
“Committee: Universal basic income will not be introduced anytime soon”, ERR, September 18th 2019
“Public letter: the reason for rejecting a research initiative doesn’t correspond to the initiative’s content and laws, neither”, Kodanikupalga Teataja, October 2nd 2019
André Coelho, “Estonia: Estonian Parliament examines possibility of testing basic income in the country”, Basic Income News, June 28th 2019
by Andre Coelho | Mar 21, 2019 | News
It was in September 2017 that the Scottish Government decided to support local authorities – namely Fife, City of Edinburgh, Glasgow City Council and North Ayrshire Council – so these could conduct feasibility studies on potential basic income pilots within their districts. A 250 000 £ fund was made available by the government, complementing the common resources shared by these localities for this innovative pursuit.
The feasibility phase is projected to end in March 2020, precisely a year from now. Although the study is being managed locally, within the cited localities, it is being developed together with governmental institutes like the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Her Majesty’s (HM) Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland, without which future basic income pilot schemes in the UK cannot be rolled out. This initiative is even more important, within UK’s internal organization, knowing that employment, health and safety, and social security policy are reserved matters, which means these are dealt centrally at Westminster Parliament.
Responsible officials for the study, also named the Steering Group, have been engaging with all the cited governmental institutes, plus learning all available information on other basic income-like experiments around the world, and attending Conferences focused on basic income (such as the last BIEN Conference in Tampere, Finland). These officials, and their associated team, are expected to present an interim report in autumn 2019, culminating at the presentation of a final report by March 2020.
Even though the feasibility study is still in its infancy, an update on the work’s progression has already been released (March 5th). It is scheduled as indicated below, in which Phases 1 and 2 have already been concluded (Phase 2 is just ending).
Phase 1 (ended)
May 2018-October 2018
- Local authority partners content with objectives
- Broad agreement
- Identified clear research questions
Phase 2 (just ending)
November 2018-March 2019
- Agreed on outcomes of interest (individual and household income; changes in adult and child poverty; labour market participation; individual and community empowerment; health, well-being and education; experience of the social security system)
- Identification of 11 possible models for basic income pilots
- Identification and commissioning of research activities (social benefits – basic income interactions; economic modelling of basic income; direct impact simulations on household income and poverty)
- Identification of appropriate funding and delivery mechanisms
Phase 3
April 2019-September 2019
- Upon evaluation, decision from the Scottish government to go ahead with the pilots
- Upon evaluation, decision from the included localities to support implementation (of the pilots)
Phase 4
October 2019-March 2020
- Presentation of detailed methods for the experiment, costing and baseline data identifies
- Secure funding and delivering mechanisms to start the pilot
As immediate next steps, the study team will now invest in understanding how to articulate the pilot basic income with the existent Social Benefits structure (in partnership with the Child Poverty Action Group). In parallel, it will also entail “economic modelling of broader and second order impacts on the local and national economy”, as well as “modelling (of the) the impacts of CBI (Citizens Basic Income) on income and poverty”. In this core stage of the feasibility study, funding and payment option will also be analysed in detail, while interaction with the several stakeholders and partners is deepened.
It seems that the Scottish approach to a basic income pilot is mostly from the bottom-up, in an attempt to articulate the operation of existing income distribution rules with the new element of basic income. This may not only be a necessity to effectively develop the basic income pilot, but makes sense in a more general and longer-term view of implementing a basic income in the region, further down the road. In any case, further important updates will come to us in September this year.
More information at:
“Scottish Citizens Basic Income Feasibility Study – Project Update Report”, Basic Income Scotland, March 14th 2019
Scottish Citizens Basic Income Feasibility Project – Update report to Scottish Government 5th March 2019
Sara Bizarro, “SCOTLAND: Scottish Government provides £250k to support feasibility work on BI pilots”, Basic Income News, December 2nd 2017
