by Andre Coelho | Dec 8, 2016 | News
Photo – Center left: Francisco Vega. Center right: Carmén Lizárraga.
Credit to: Europa Press.
Carmén Lizárraga, economy and property representative of the political party Podemos in Andalucia (southern Spain), declared in November that Podemos will present an initiative to the regional parliament demanding a basic income. Lizárraga made the declaration at a short press conference which she shared with a basic income activist named Francisco Vega, who had been on hunger strike at the regional government office’s front door in Málaga.
As both Lizárraga and Vega declare, the Andalucia government statute includes, in its 23rd article, the right to “a basic income which guarantees dignified living conditions”. Their first motive is, therefore, to hold elected officials to this promise enshrined in the regional constitution.
According to Lizárraga, Andalucian society is experiencing a social emergency, with persistently high levels of inequality and poverty that have both been rising in recent years. She also mentions that basic income has the potential to raise regional economic output, as people’s average incomes rise, and strengthen workers’ bargaining powers, thereby improving employment conditions.
In his concluding remarks, Vega challenges the regional government, highlighting the long-term unemployed and women subject to domestic violence: “What will the regional government do with these people when they are left with nothing?”
More information at:
In Spanish:
Europa Press, “Podemos Andalucía llevará iniciativa al Parlamento para reivindicar la renta básica [Podemos Andalucia will present an initiative to the parliament, demanding basic income]”, Europa Press, November 8, 2016
by Andre Coelho | Nov 30, 2016 | News
(Image: Barcelona, “Queen” of the Mediterranean)
In the Spanish region of Catalonia, serious efforts are being made to reduce poverty and to reduce inequalities. Last week, on the 17th of November, the Catalan Economy and Tax Office presented a thorough study on social policies, which includes the contributions of 30 academics and other experts and technicians.
The document points out that current restrictions on the Catalan regional government public policies are stalling necessary changes, such as the implementation of more redistributive measures. This is due, in part, to the fact that the main tax revenue is managed by the Spanish State. The Catalan regional government is making attempts to address poverty and inequality, with the 2017 regional budget considered to be “the most social ever”. Under the new budget, more tax will be collected from both large property transfers and non-productive assets, and put into a budget that surpasses all other previous budgets in terms of social spending (education, health and social affairs). Despite this, Catalan officials recognize that the government should do even more to reduce poverty and tackle inequalities.
Although Catalonia’s poverty rate (19%) is lower than the Spanish average (22,1%), it is still above the European Union’s average poverty rate (17,2%). Catalonia also faces a persistently high unemployment rate (11,2%), despite the economic recovery in recent years.
The document presented by the Economy and Tax Office in Catalonia recommends profound changes to the regional social benefits scheme, which has been inadequate in poverty alleviation and prevention. At one point, it refers to basic income as a possible solution to this structural social problem. The regional basic income would amount to an unconditional allowance of 7471 €/year for every adult citizen, plus a 1494 €/year for every child (under 18 years of age) in Catalonia.
According to the study, replacing all current benefits which are valued below the basic income amount would save around 90 thousand million euros per year, in 2010 numbers. The study also states that basic income would reduce inequalities and allow young people to enjoy a larger degree of freedom and emancipation.
Pere Aragonès, the regional Secretary for Economy in Catalonia, a region with 7,5 million inhabitants, said at the 17 November meeting that his department and the Tax Office and Employment, Social Affairs and Families one are working on the development of a new set of social progress indicators, which can complement the economic variables (such as GDP).
More information at:
Catalan News Agency, “Catalonia not able to fight poverty within the “autonomic framework”, report finds”, 17th November 2016
by Julen Bollain | Nov 17, 2016 | News
Survey about Unconditional Basic Income which will be presented the 19th of November at the XVI Basic Income Symposium in Bilbao, Spain
By Julen Bollain
In September, the University of the Basque Country (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea) carried out Europe’s second largest survey to date on unconditional basic income. The survey gathered 3057 responses, including 1479 students and 1330 workers. This article offers a brief overview of the findings, which will be officially and exhaustively presented at the 16th Basic Income Symposium on November 18th and 19th in Bilbao.
In the two previous biggest European surveys — one conducted in Catalonia by GESOP and the other in the European Union by DALIA Research — around 70% of respondents said they would support an unconditional basic income. The new survey from Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea finds that more than half of the respondents (54.4%) are in favor of an unconditional basic income. Although the percentage in favor is smaller, these data confirm that a majority of people throughout different European territories would support an unconditional basic income.
As is well known, the unconditional basic income can be easily ridiculed and,with little effort, the sensationalist media and other channels can cause citizens to reject basic income ipso facto with descriptions such as “unconditional basic income consists of giving 650€ per month to each citizen as it would create lazy people and people would stop working”. Given this, I think that result concerning whether survey respondents would stop working if they received an unconditional basic income, which will be mentioned in the next paragraph, is especially noteworthy.
The three surveys mentioned above show that under 4% of respondents believe that they would stop working if they received an unconditional basic income. In the first survey (the one carried out by GESOP in Catalonia), it was seen that only 2.9% of the respondents who are currently employed say that they would stop working. Meanwhile, in the second (carried out by Dalia Research), 4% of the 10,000 Europeans surveyed said that they would leave their job for an unconditional basic income. Both results are very similar to the one obtained recently by Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, where the percentage of currently employed respondents who report that they would stop working if they received an unconditional basic income stands at 3.5%.
In conclusion, as the information above makes clear, the three largest surveys conducted so far in Europe on unconditional basic income support the following three premises:
1. A social majority is in favor of an unconditional basic income.
2. Only a small percentage of people would stop working if they received an unconditional basic income. (In the three surveys, this percentage was never higher than 4%.)
3. Unconditional basic income endows the citizenry a huge amount of individual freedom in order to invest their time in what each one really wants. A significant percentage of individuals surveyed said that they would reduce their working hours to devote that time in personal issues.
These results will described in more depth at the XVI Basic Income Symposium on Saturday, November 19th.
by Kate McFarland | Nov 10, 2016 | News
Economist Daniel Raventós’s book Basic Income: The Material Conditions of Freedom has now been published in Korean.
The book addresses common questions such as the following: “Is a basic income just?” “Why would an unconditional basic income be more effective at combating poverty than means-tested benefits?” “How can a basic income be financed?” “How would work be affected by a basic income?”
The first version of the book (El derecho a la existencia: La propuesta del Subsidio Universal Garantizado) was published in Spanish in 1999. An updated version was published in both Spanish and English in 2007, and a Czech edition was published in 2014.
As he describes in the book’s preface, Raventós’s visit to Seoul for BIEN’s 16th Congress affirmed his interest in promoting basic income in South Korea:
“One of the highlights of my trip to South Korea was a meeting requested by Lee Jae-myung, mayor of the city of Seongnam and Korean translator of this book. This was most agreeable and instructive and Lee Jae-myung’s account of what he thought were the possibilities for basic income in South Korea convinced me of his deep knowledge of the proposal. My visit to Seoul was certainly very useful for me and also, I hope, for making basic income better known in South Korea.
“It is my heartfelt wish that this book, now available in Korean, will contribute towards greater knowledge of basic income among Korean speakers. I am grateful to Chaekdam for publishing it and would be delighted if South Korea were soon among the countries where basic income enjoys widespread support. I say I would be delighted because, to paraphrase the great Thomas Paine, we fight for basic income not as a matter of charity but of justice.”
The preface of Basic Income: The Material Conditions of Freedom is viewable online (in English), and a complete copy of the book is available as a free pdf download.
Daniel Raventós is a Professor at the University of Barcelona and president of BIEN’s Spanish affiliate, Red Renta Básica.
Reviewed by Julen Bollain
Korean fish market photo CC BY 2.0 Ryan Bodenstein
by Andre Coelho | Nov 9, 2016 | News
University of the Basque Country (in Wikipedia)
The XVI Basic Income Symposium at the Faculty of Economics and Business will take place on November 18-19. This event will be held at the Sarriko-Aula Magna, at this Faculty in Bilbao.
Presentations and debates will start at 9 am on Friday (the 18th) and close at 2 pm on Saturday (the19th). The event will start with a debate about the future of employment, job guarantees and basic income. Later in the afternoon on first day, the film “In the same boat” will be shown in the presence of its director, Rudy Gnutti. Basic Income experiments will be discussed at the end of the first day. On the next day, the annual meeting of BIEN’s affiliate Red Renta Básica will take place during the morning, followed by a discussion of the social, economic and political viability of basic income.
Longtime basic income activists, researchers and politicians will speak and debate at this conference, such as Lluis Torrens, Daniel Raventós, Pablo Yanes and Juan Carlos Monedero.
More information at:
In Spanish
Red Renta Básica, “XVI Simposio de la Renta Básica”, 14th September 2016
In Spanish and Catalan
Program of the XVI Simposio de la Renta Básica
