There was an almighty kerfuffle a few weeks ago over over the Green Party’s plans for Citizen’s Income. Many articles have come out both for and against, but all have missed the key question: can we afford not to have a basic income?
Consider the costs of poverty:
Tory tax cuts to take minimum-wage earners back to 2010
UK Prime Minister David Cameron, on the pre-election campaign trail, has vowed he will do away with taxes for some minimum-wage earners, by increasing the amount that everybody can take home tax-free, in a scenario that, at first blush, looks a lot like basic income. Under the proposed plan, taxes will kick in once you […]
Public bears cost of boom bust cycle in Detroit
It’s hard to picture that London, with its booming industry in professional services, could ever face the same fate as the US city of Detroit. The majority of London’s employed population (82%) works in the professional services (e.g. bankers, solicitors, accountants) and the financial sector employs one in every three such workers. And thankfully the […]
UK social services are removing senior washing, ADASS warns
The UK’s weakest adults have been dealt a blow by budget cuts as councils strip adult care services to their bare bones, a national association of adult careers has found. Some disabled adults and seniors lacking the ability to wash themselves are having to tough it out, reported BBC’s programme, 5 Live investigates. Almost all […]
Alaskans now getting 13% of subsistence met by basic income
Everybody in the oil-rich US state of Alaska will get double their annual Basic Income when they receive their 2014 checks of $1,800 “give or take $100.” The chunky state handout may double, officials say, jumping from 7% to 13% of minimum wage income in the state, but still falls far below subsistence. More cash […]
“Who?” and “How?” – What the public thinks of a Basic Income
A survey on basic income conducted by the Sheffield Equality Group concludes public support for a Basic Income has the potential to be strong.
EU-wide basic income crowdfunding campaign gathers €15,000 in less than 48 hours
With 15,000 Euros in the bank (and counting!) we are now fully financed for the final push before the deadline on January 14th, 2014.
Referendum to be held in Switzerland on $2800/month BI!
A federal initiative for basic income in Switzerland has achieved to collect more than 125,000 signautres, hence opening the doors to a referendum in the coming years.
Basic Income is a human right! A report on the Demo in Berlin
On September 14th, Barb Jacobson attended this year’s Basic Income March in Berlin. The following is her take on what happened. When I saw the poster I was (slightly) afraid I might end up being an extra on a remake of ‘Gone with the Wind’: Liberty as Rhett Butler and Justice as Scarlett O’Hara. Liberty […]
Cyprus to implement a “guaranteed minimum income”
Cyprus unveiled a plan for the implementation of a “guaranteed minimum income”. A proposal which differs in many aspects to the idea of the universal basic income.
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