Universal basic income in Wales ‘would cut poverty in half’

Poverty in Wales would be halved if the Welsh Government established a universal basic income (UBI) system in the country, a major study has found.
The research, carried out by leading think tank Autonomy, found UBI would decrease overall poverty rates in Wales by 50%, and child poverty would decrease by 64%, bringing it to a rate of under 10% in Wales.
It is currently at 28% – the worst in the UK.
It also found nearly three quarters of people in Wales, 69%, support piloting UBI.
UBI is a government programme in which every citizen receives a set amount of money on a regular basis, regardless of their employment status.
It is a minimum payment, designed to meet basic needs, paid to everyone individually, unconditionally.
Read on...
Support us and go ad-freePilot scheme
Earlier this year the Welsh Government announced its ambition to pilot a form of UBI in Wales, but suggested the scheme would focus on specific groups of people, like care leavers.
However, campaigners including UBI Lab Wales, the future generations commissioner Sophie Howe and more than 1,000 petitioners have since called on the first minister to ensure the pilot includes children, the employed, the unemployed and pensioners, as well as care leavers.
Howe, whose role was created under Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations Act, will give evidence to the Welsh Parliament’s Petitions Committee, alongside director of research at Autonomy Will Stronge, calling for a geographically-based universal basic income (UBI) scheme.
She said UBI could deliver “a more equal, prosperous Wales”. She continued:
Piloting a UBI trial here in Wales gives us a chance to increase the prosperity of every single person, giving more people a life jacket when they need to keep their head above the water – which has the potential to create a healthier, more equal population.
The findings in this report should excite leaders who say they want a true green and just recovery that makes life fairer for everyone.
“Bold changes” are needed
Stronge said:
The Covid-19 pandemic necessitates radical and bold changes to support people through future economic shocks.
As the economy and labour market struggles to find its feet, it’s clear that guaranteeing an income floor for all is the most progressive way of securing livelihoods.
Ewan Hilton and James Radcliffe, chief executive and head of policy at Platfform, a mental health and social change charity, will also be giving evidence at the session, as well as Lydia Godden, of Women’s Equality Network Wales (WEN Cymru).
A trial in Wales of 2,500 people, the report finds, could cost about £50m, with adults being paid from £60 per week.
Those who were already living in poor health, poverty or in marginalised communities are said to have been the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Rising living costs, combined with the end of the coronavirus job retention scheme, also known as furlough, on top of cuts to welfare benefits such as universal credit, is amounting to a “perfect storm” or “tsunami”, according to respondents to a Senedd Committee inquiry into debt and the pandemic held this month.
A review into a UBI pilot in Finland, which ran from 2017 to 2018, found people who took part were generally more satisfied with their lives and experienced less mental strain, depression, sadness and loneliness.
They also worked slightly more than those on unemployment benefits and reported better cognitive functioning. The study researchers said that:
Support us and go ad-freeThe basic income recipients were more satisfied with their lives and experienced less mental strain than the control group,
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UBI further entrenches neoliberalism in societies, making people pay for public goods that could be provided free at the point of delivery. A UBI could be used to destroy the NHS by telling us we can now pay for private health insurance.
“A study published this week sheds doubt on ambitious claims made for universal basic income (UBI), the scheme that would give everyone regular, unconditional cash payments that are enough to live on. Its advocates claim it would help to reduce poverty, narrow inequalities and tackle the effects of automation on jobs and income. Research conducted for Public Services International, a global trade union federation, reviewed for the first time 16 practical projects that have tested different ways of distributing regular cash payments to individuals across a range of poor, middle-income and rich countries, as well as copious literature on the topic.
It could find no evidence to suggest that such a scheme could be sustained for all individuals in any country in the short, medium or longer term – or that this approach could achieve lasting improvements in wellbeing or equality. The research confirms the importance of generous, non-stigmatising income support, but everything turns on how much money is paid, under what conditions and with what consequences for the welfare system as a whole.
The report concludes that the money needed to pay for an adequate UBI scheme “would be better spent on reforming social protection systems, and building more and better-quality public services”. Redistributing the personal tax allowance and developing the idea of universal basic services (UBS) could offer a more promising alternative. This calls for more and better quality public services that are free to those who need them, regardless of ability to pay. Healthcare and education are obvious examples, and it is argued that a similar approach should be applied to areas such as transport, housing, social care and information – everyday essentials that should be available to all. Collective provision offers more cost-effective, socially just, redistributive and sustainable ways of meeting people’s needs than leaving individuals to buy what they can afford in the marketplace.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/06/universal-basic-income-public-realm-poverty-inequality?utm_source=pocket_mylist
Good post and I heartily agree. UBI only helps continue the neoliberal project.