by Kate McFarland | Jul 4, 2016 | News
In a column originally published in the Volkskrant on May 31, Doekle Terpstra — former chair of the CNV trade union federation, an independent grassroots organization with over 350,000 members — declared that it’s “time for a new social contract, a new balance between economic and social interests.”
To continue to put our faith in the current approach and the institutions that go with it is not an option. It would be natural to call upon the social partners – unions and employers – to work together and draw up a future-proof social agenda.
A new social contract could bolster their credibility but it takes courage to leave the trodden path. I have my doubts about the innovative power of the consensus economy and the discussion will have to take place elsewhere. The partners in this discussion will have to be prestigious economists, entrepreneurs, workers and a commission of wise men. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and prepare a social contract for a new cabinet.
Terpstra suggests that such a contract could include, among other elements, a basic income or “some form of negative income tax” to secure a “viable financial basis” for all persons regardless of employment status.
Reference
Doekle Terpstra, “It’s time for a new social contract, says a former Dutch union boss,” DutchNews.nl, June 27, 2016.
Photo of Terpstra (Mar 2007) CC Bernd Out
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by Jenna van Draanen | Apr 18, 2016 | News
Image source: https://www.fractieklein.nl/klein/over-norbert/
On February 15, 2016, Norbert Klein of the Vrijzinnige Partij (Liberal Party) issued a press release detailing the initiative that he proposed to the Lower House of Parliament on January 26, 2015 in order to put basic income on the national agenda in the Netherlands.
Klein notes that, “more and more local, regional initiatives are being developed for certain forms of a basic income, but that only involves a no-rule benefit. It is time for the national politics to seriously start looking at the unconditional basic income for everyone.”
In response to Klein’s submission, the Lower House of Parliament decided on February 2, 2016 to address his proposal and asked the government to respond to the note.
In his press release, Norbert Klein also writes that, “the economic crisis, the many sequential cutbacks and the increasing automation and robotisation have been of major influence to the employment market. We must respond to this. The basic income offers a possible solution. The huge advantage of a basic income is that people will get more opportunities to develop themselves in the direction they prefer, a very important principle for liberal politics.”
BI NEWS has posted other stories on the local activities in Holland related to basic income. See here and here for more details.
Sources:
Mirjam Hamelink, Press Release: A Basic Income for Everyone. Policy officer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, klein@tweedekamer.nl
Norbert Klein, Member House of Representatives Dutch Parliament, Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal www.vrijzinnigepartij.nl
by Andre Coelho | Apr 8, 2016 | News
Frans Kerver. Credit to: Tech Insider.
This article describes the recent experience of Frans Kerver, a Dutch man who in July 2015 began receiving an unconditional basic income (UBI) from MIES, an organization that promotes basic income in the Netherlands. According to the article, Kerver was working 12 hours a day before he was selected for the 12-month grant of $1,100 each month. The article has a misleading title, however, as Kerver has continued to work “about 50 hours” each week on copywriting as well as community work. The article goes some way towards showing that a UBI does not necessarily generate laziness, but actually promotes better work environments and enhances satisfaction. The author goes on to list some of the most important initiatives on basic income worldwide, framing the MIES initiative within a wider global movement.
More information at:
Chris Weller, “This guy gets a $1,100 per month ‘basic income’ for doing absolutely nothing“, Tech Insider, 29th March 2016
by Jonny West | Mar 21, 2016 | News
On 30 January 2016, BasisInkomen, the Dutch association for a basic income, hosted the International Congress on Basic Income Experiments in Maastricht, Netherlands, to celebrate its 25th anniversary. This was an opportunity for those interested in the idea of a basic income to come together to reflect on recent developments – particularly in the Netherlands, Finland and France – and look towards the future. Keynote speakers included Julia Backhaus, Sjir Hoeijmakers, Stanislas Jourdan, Markus Kanerva, Otto Lehto, Philippe van Parijs, Bono Pel, Guy Standing and Nicole Teke. This article is a summary of the key points from the congress.
Guy Standing opened the congress by reflecting on the journey that the basic income idea has made over the previous 30 years: from the impossible to the ridiculous to the absurd and now perhaps even to the cusp of the inevitable. Two key themes ran through Guy Standing’s presentation: the necessity for further experimentation in order to gain political legitimation and, moreover, the importance of designing these experiments based on normative principles of social justice, such as wealth redistribution and social emancipation. If political legitimation can be won, based on principles of social justice, then a basic income will provide a pathway toward a dignified life for individuals within a good society — a society in which the collective wealth of the community is shared equally within and across generations, and in which each individual makes a moral commitment to actively participate in society. The idea of a basic income represents a rejection of the opportunistic politics of today in favour of a positive vision for tomorrow’s good society.
Guy Standing
After Guy Standing’s expansive introductory speech, discussion turned to the details of social experiments currently being planned in the Netherlands, Finland and France. In each case, recent developments demonstrate broad support for some type of basic income across the political spectrum.
In the Netherlands, nineteen municipalities are currently developing some form of social security experiment, which will remove the condition that beneficiaries must participate in workfare schemes, and tackle the poverty trap that beneficiaries experience when transitioning between the social security system and work. While many of these municipalities initially proposed introducing a basic income as part of the experiment, current legislative restrictions have limited this number to three. Four municipalities have lobbied the Dutch Ministry for Social Security and Employment to revise these legal restrictions, though the government has yet to respond. Despite this legal scuffle, the proposed Dutch experiments reveal widespread support for a basic income experiment across the political spectrum, with each major political party represented among the nineteen municipalities.
In Finland, the government has proposed a number of social experiments, including a basic income experiment. The government’s aim is to better align social policy with societal demands, as well as to reduce disincentives to work and decrease the role of bureaucratic processes in social security. A research consortium led by Kela, a government agency responsible for social security payments, is responsible for designing and implementing the basic income experiment. A first hearing for the basic income experiment was held on 5 December 2015, while a preliminary report will be released on 30 March 2016 and a final hearing will be held on 15 November 2016. A budget of €20 million has been allocated to the basic income experiment, which is expected to begin in 2017 and last two years. Different variations of a basic income are currently being considered, including a ‘full’ basic income, a ‘partial’ basic income, a negative income tax and a participation income. The models propose a basic income of between €400 and €1,200 per participant per month, with many models retaining supplementary allowances. One major challenge is the constitutional requirement to treat all citizens equally. To meet this requirement, participation in the experiment will be voluntary. A basic income experiment enjoys broad public support across voters of all major political parties in Finland, and recent public opinion polling indicates that more than 50% of the public supports the idea.
Nicole Teke (Credit to: MFRB)
In France, parliamentary support for a basic income has been increasing. Current proponents include Jean Desessard MP (Green Party), Frédéric Lefebvre MP (Les Républicains), and Gaetan Gorce MP and Delphine Batho MP (Parti Socialiste). Furthermore, the Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs Emmanuel Macron expressed support for the idea of a basic income and a government agency on digital affairs recommended introducing a basic income experiment. In addition, the Sirugue Commission, a parliamentary working group led by Christophe Sirugue MP (Parti Socialiste), is under increasing pressure to examine the case for a basic income experiment as part of its comprehensive review into the existing social security system. Meanwhile, the regional coalition government in Aquitaine is developing its own proposal for a basic income experiment. However, social security policy is a departmental rather than regional competency, and the regional governmental tier is currently being restructured with welfare allowances likely to become a central government competency, which might pose difficulties for regional experimentation.
All such experiments, however, will be limited in what they are able to prove. In his presentation, Philippe van Parijs challenged the audience to reflect on three such limitations. First, an individual is likely to make different labour market decisions depending on whether the basic income is temporary or permanent, which will distort the effect on labour supply. Second, participants receiving a basic income within an experiment will only account for a small fraction of the total labour force rather than the whole labour force, which will distort the effect on labour demand. Third, voluntary participation in the experiments will likely attract net beneficiaries rather than net contributors, which will distort the effect on financing. Philippe van Parijs then articulated the social justice case for a basic income: a basic income is an intergenerational redistribution of the currently unfair and uneven allocation of the efforts of previous generations as well as accessible natural resources. Furthermore, a basic income is a gift, which deserves a counter gift. If this counter gift were a commitment to actively participate in society, it could nurture a renewed ethics of responsibility. This is a strong case for a basic income, which exceeds the scope of the experiments planned in the Netherlands, Finland, France and elsewhere.
In all, the congress was one of optimism buoyed by a sense that the basic income movement is on the cusp of something momentous. The various developments in the Netherlands, Finland and France were also a reminder that if we truly want change, we can find a form for that change that fits our unique circumstances. We are not restricted by whether our political systems are centralised or decentralised, majoritarian or multi-party, left or right, a republic or a constitutional monarchy – we our restricted only by our imaginations and our tenacity.
More information at:
Basisinkomen.org, “Interviews and Lectures about #basicincome from Maastricht 2016”
by Vito Laterza | Jan 27, 2016 | News
A panel on “The Basic Income imperative: rethinking equality, inclusion and social innovation across Europe” will be held at the 2016 conference of the European Network for Social Policy Analysis (ESPAnet), September 1-3, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The panel is convened by Bettina Leibetseder (Johannes Kepler University, Austria) and Jurgen De Wispelaere (University of Tampere, Finland). The call for papers is open to scholars in all disciplines and from a range of professional and personal backgrounds.
You can submit a paper until March 18, 2016. Click here for more information about the conference, you can submit your paper here.
You can read below the full abstract for the panel:
The Basic Income Imperative: Rethinking Equality, Inclusion and Social Innovation across Europe
The idea of granting each (adult) citizen an unconditional basic income, independent of means test or work requirement, has made major strides in recent policy debates across Europe. Driven by popular initiatives such as the successful 2013 Citizens’ Initiative in Switzerland, the prominence in party-political manifestos such as Spain’s Podemos, and even government commitments such as the forthcoming 2017 basic income pilot study in Finland, basic income cannot be readily dismissed as an alternative to the policy orthodoxy of the active welfare state. It may even introduce social innovation.
Nevertheless the “basic income imperative” faces considerable challenges, and the aim of this stream is to map out these through a number of country-studies within Europe and beyond. This stream aims to advance the policy debate around basic income in several ways. First, country-level contributions may shed light on how ostensibly similar challenges harbor major differences at the level of policy design and anticipated policy effects, with particular focus on the potential contribution of basic income schemes to sustainability, equality, inclusion and social innovation. Second, country-specific analysis offers insight into distinctive structural/institutional constraints mediating policy development. Third, contributions will identify ways in which the particular constellation of policy actors, interests and opportunities shapes the political strategies to move basic income onto the policy agenda. Fourth, building on the policy feedback perspective, this stream aims to investigate to what extent competing basic income models differentiated in terms of policy goals as well as policy design negotiate common obstacles across European welfare states.
We invite contributions that examine one or more of the issues listed above within a specific country. The aim of this stream is to allow contributors to offer in-depth country analysis, which serves as precondition for future comparative research of the prospects and challenges of the basic income imperative across Europe. Although the main focus will be on European welfare states, we would consider contributions that illuminate the debate through a non-European perspective or advance a comparative or European analysis.
