The most entrenched criticism of UBI is that too many would exploit a guaranteed income to sit on their hands, grinding the economy to a halt buthere are signs that this is too gloomy a view, New Scientist reports.
For four years beginning in 1975, the 10,000 citizens of Dauphin in Manitoba, Canada, were guaranteed a basic level of financial security: if their monthly income dropped below a certain level, the government would top it up. Support for this experiment soon dried up, and it was never properly analysed.
Evelyn Forget at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg recently revisited the experiment, comparing public records from Dauphin with those from similar small towns. Forget found the only groups that spent less time in work during the trial were teenage boys and new mothers. The boys were staying in school rather than bowing to pressure to take agricultural jobs, and the mothers were nursing. What’s more, Dauphin had noticeably lower hospitalisation rates and fewer depression-related illnesses.
Other tests are also now taking place in the Netherlands and private firms are also looking at the idea, New Scientist says.
SOURCE
What happens if we pay everyone just to live? (New Scientist)
Thursday, 11 May 2017
Monday, 8 May 2017
Finnish UBI pilot reduces stress
Citizens receiving a basic monthly income as part of a radical Finnish pilot scheme have seen a reduction in their stress levels, according to local officials, the Independent reports.
Under the scheme, 2,000 people receive 560 euros every month for two years. Recipients do not have to report whether they are seeking employment or how they are spending the money, which is deducted from any benefits they are already receiving.
Marjukka Turunen, head of KELA, the legal unit at Finland's social insurance agency, said as well as cutting bureaucracy, reducing costs and tackling poverty, the scheme was having an indirectly positive effect on people's mental health.
“There was this one woman who said: ‘I was afraid every time the phone would ring, that unemployment services are calling to offer me a job," Ms Turunen said.
The woman was not able to work because she was caring for elderly parents.
Under the pilot, if a participant finds work, they will continued to receive the stipend, easing claimants' fears they will lose out by finding employment, the Independent says.
FULL STORY
Finland's universal basic income trial for unemployed reduces stress levels, says official (Independent)
Finland's guaranteed basic income is working to tackle poverty (Kera News)
Under the scheme, 2,000 people receive 560 euros every month for two years. Recipients do not have to report whether they are seeking employment or how they are spending the money, which is deducted from any benefits they are already receiving.
Marjukka Turunen, head of KELA, the legal unit at Finland's social insurance agency, said as well as cutting bureaucracy, reducing costs and tackling poverty, the scheme was having an indirectly positive effect on people's mental health.
“There was this one woman who said: ‘I was afraid every time the phone would ring, that unemployment services are calling to offer me a job," Ms Turunen said.
The woman was not able to work because she was caring for elderly parents.
Under the pilot, if a participant finds work, they will continued to receive the stipend, easing claimants' fears they will lose out by finding employment, the Independent says.
FULL STORY
Finland's universal basic income trial for unemployed reduces stress levels, says official (Independent)
Finland's guaranteed basic income is working to tackle poverty (Kera News)
Sunday, 30 April 2017
Ontario UBI trial to begin this summer
The Canadian province of Ontario will launch a trial run of universal basic income with about 4,000 participants this summer, making it the first North American government in decades to test out the policy, The Guardian reports.
Participants in the three-year, C$150m pilot program will be drawn from the cities of Hamilton, Thunder Bay and Lindsay. A randomly selected mail-out will invite applications in the coming months, with participants screened to ensure they are between the ages of 18 and 64 years and living on a low income.
The pilot will include a mix of those who are working in low-paying or precarious jobs and those on social assistance, with participants able to opt out at any point during the three years.
Unconditional monthly payments will begin to flow this summer; single people will receive up to C$16,989 ($12,570) while couples will receive C$24,027. All participants will continue to receive child or disability benefits, if applicable, the papers says.
FULL STORY
Ontario plans to launch universal basic income trial run this summer (The Guardian)
READ MORE
Canada is launching an experiment that will give 4,000 people free money until 2020 (The Independend)
Participants in the three-year, C$150m pilot program will be drawn from the cities of Hamilton, Thunder Bay and Lindsay. A randomly selected mail-out will invite applications in the coming months, with participants screened to ensure they are between the ages of 18 and 64 years and living on a low income.
The pilot will include a mix of those who are working in low-paying or precarious jobs and those on social assistance, with participants able to opt out at any point during the three years.
Unconditional monthly payments will begin to flow this summer; single people will receive up to C$16,989 ($12,570) while couples will receive C$24,027. All participants will continue to receive child or disability benefits, if applicable, the papers says.
FULL STORY
Ontario plans to launch universal basic income trial run this summer (The Guardian)
READ MORE
Canada is launching an experiment that will give 4,000 people free money until 2020 (The Independend)
Thursday, 27 April 2017
Richard Nixon's UBI plan
Rutger Bregman tells the story of US President Richard Nixon's ill-fated plan to introduce a basic income in 1969.
https://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/rutger-bregman/2017/27/2017/1493250489/bizarre-tale-president-nixon-s-basic-income-plan
https://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/rutger-bregman/2017/27/2017/1493250489/bizarre-tale-president-nixon-s-basic-income-plan
Monday, 3 April 2017
Introducing UBI in the Australian context
It’s high time we take it seriously, argues Charlie Young at The New Daily.
"While the (Australian) Greens have been advocating UBI for years, earlier this month Luke Whitington, the deputy chair of NSW Labor’s Economic Policy Committee, proposed investigating a nationwide program," Young notes.
"A multitude of recent articles, research papers and government reports have started looking seriously into UBI’s feasibility in Australia. Some proposals suggest paying out between $10,000 and $30,000 per citizen per year, which is no small thing. And it doesn’t look like the idea’s on its way out.
"Left wing proponents say a UBI would reduce crime, reward hitherto unpaid labour in the home, and massively reduce gender and income inequality, while essentially eliminating poverty – as payments would likely be set above the poverty line," he argues.
One source of funding would involve "replacing elements of government welfare spending coupled with progressive taxation."
"There’s a lot of money to be saved via the elimination of the bureaucratic means-testing involved in programs like Newstart," he notes.
A UBI could help relieve in other areas, Young says "such as the manifold economic pressures of Australia’s ageing population and jobs at risk from the rise of automation."
However, he notes that UBI champions from the conservative end of the political spectrum have a different notion of it.
"Some Liberals believe UBI could replace the inefficient behemoth that is the Australian welfare system. Mikayla Novak, a senior researcher at the Institute of Public Affairs, Australia’s leading free-market think tank, argued that federal and state welfare spending could have been redistributed in 2013-14 to give 'each adult Australian resident … about $714 per month in a basic income'."
"Remember, that would mean scrapping everything, including Medicare and child support," Young warns.
Different possible funding options are available, he suggests, including former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis' suggestion of taxing automation, while academic Thomas Pogge says we should put a global levy on natural resource extraction.
Land value tax as a funding stream, financial transaction taxes and carbon taxes are other possibilities, Young argues.
FULL ARTICLE
It’s time to take ‘free money’ seriously (The New Daily)
"While the (Australian) Greens have been advocating UBI for years, earlier this month Luke Whitington, the deputy chair of NSW Labor’s Economic Policy Committee, proposed investigating a nationwide program," Young notes.
"A multitude of recent articles, research papers and government reports have started looking seriously into UBI’s feasibility in Australia. Some proposals suggest paying out between $10,000 and $30,000 per citizen per year, which is no small thing. And it doesn’t look like the idea’s on its way out.
"Left wing proponents say a UBI would reduce crime, reward hitherto unpaid labour in the home, and massively reduce gender and income inequality, while essentially eliminating poverty – as payments would likely be set above the poverty line," he argues.
One source of funding would involve "replacing elements of government welfare spending coupled with progressive taxation."
"There’s a lot of money to be saved via the elimination of the bureaucratic means-testing involved in programs like Newstart," he notes.
A UBI could help relieve in other areas, Young says "such as the manifold economic pressures of Australia’s ageing population and jobs at risk from the rise of automation."
However, he notes that UBI champions from the conservative end of the political spectrum have a different notion of it.
"Some Liberals believe UBI could replace the inefficient behemoth that is the Australian welfare system. Mikayla Novak, a senior researcher at the Institute of Public Affairs, Australia’s leading free-market think tank, argued that federal and state welfare spending could have been redistributed in 2013-14 to give 'each adult Australian resident … about $714 per month in a basic income'."
"Remember, that would mean scrapping everything, including Medicare and child support," Young warns.
Different possible funding options are available, he suggests, including former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis' suggestion of taxing automation, while academic Thomas Pogge says we should put a global levy on natural resource extraction.
Land value tax as a funding stream, financial transaction taxes and carbon taxes are other possibilities, Young argues.
FULL ARTICLE
It’s time to take ‘free money’ seriously (The New Daily)
Sunday, 2 April 2017
A UBI "social account"
"Can UBI work?" asks Kemal Dervis at Social Europe
"Implementing a full-blown UBI would be difficult, not least because it would require answering a number of complex questions about goals and priorities," he says. "Perhaps the most obvious balancing act relates to how much money is actually delivered to each citizen (or legal resident)."
"In the United States and Europe, a UBI of, say, $2,000 per year would not do much, except perhaps alleviate the most extreme poverty, even if it was added to existing social-welfare programs. An UBI of $10,000 would make a real difference; but, depending on how many people qualify, that could cost as much as 10% or 15% of GDP – a huge fiscal outlay, particularly if it came on top of existing social programs."
However, a proposal from France "is a step in the right direction," Dervis argues.
"Implementing a full-blown UBI would be difficult, not least because it would require answering a number of complex questions about goals and priorities," he says. "Perhaps the most obvious balancing act relates to how much money is actually delivered to each citizen (or legal resident)."
"In the United States and Europe, a UBI of, say, $2,000 per year would not do much, except perhaps alleviate the most extreme poverty, even if it was added to existing social-welfare programs. An UBI of $10,000 would make a real difference; but, depending on how many people qualify, that could cost as much as 10% or 15% of GDP – a huge fiscal outlay, particularly if it came on top of existing social programs."
However, a proposal from France "is a step in the right direction," Dervis argues.
"The idea is to endow each citizen with a personal social account containing partly redeemable 'points.' Such accounts would work something like a savings account, with their owners augmenting a substantial public contribution to them by working, studying, or performing certain types of national service.
"The accounts could be drawn upon in times of need, particularly for training and re-skilling, though the amount that could be withdrawn would be guided by predetermined 'prices' and limited to a certain amount in a given period of time.
"The approach seems like a good compromise between portability and personal choice, on the one hand, and sufficient social-policy guidance, on the other," Dervis adds.
"Only by striking the right balance between individual choice and social-policy guidance can modern economies build the social-safety programs they need," he concludes.
"The approach seems like a good compromise between portability and personal choice, on the one hand, and sufficient social-policy guidance, on the other," Dervis adds.
"Only by striking the right balance between individual choice and social-policy guidance can modern economies build the social-safety programs they need," he concludes.
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