Dear UBI Friends and Supporters,
We hope you have a good start into autumn.
Would you like to join us for another in-person UBI Lab Leeds meeting?
We will have a UBI Lab Leeds discussion and social gathering on Tuesday, 1st October, at 6 PM (18hrs) at the Arcadia pub (34 Arndale Centre, Headingley, Leeds LS6 2UE) (https://theeuropeanbarguide.com/arcadia-leeds/ ). Our topics for discussion:
- Toby will present his idea how to promote UBI online. Here is a taster: ‘…inviting people to engage with different areas online – health, education, environment, etc – and for each one asking them to say what they’d do differently if UBI existed, and also what might be different in society. So for health and social care, for instance, you might ask people to choose one or more of;
More time to exercise
A chance to cook healthier meals from scratch
Help older relatives
Look after the grandchildren, nieces/nephews, etc
The answers from all those categories could be brought together into a nice visual and summary snapshot, highlighting how someone’s life would look different. For society, people could also put their best guesses about how much money would be saved.’
- What are your burning questions about UBI?
You are welcome to bring along friends!
We hope to see you on 1st October, 18hrs at the Arcadia.
Please find below some updates about UBI publications and events.
1) Andy Burnham on Basic Income and Housing first at Labour Party Conference:
Andy Burnham calls for basic income and overhaul of inheritance tax to fund a National Care Service
…Burnham also reiterated his support for a basic income. He told the conference: “If you set people up to succeed through giving them security, in terms of their finances and their housing, they will succeed”, adding: “There is an argument for a basic income as far as I’m concerned.”…
Andy Burnham calls for housing to be placed top of the list on hierarchy of public spending
…“I believe that one of the reasons why modern nations have not been able to solve their housing problems is that they have looked upon houses as commodities to be bought and sold and not as a social service to be provided.”
Burnham said that housing was key to tackling many other social problems, and asked: “How can a child have a good education if they’re going to a home not fit for purpose?”.
He cited work in Greater Manchester where a housing first philosophy is being adopted, with housing being ‘first in queue for any funds released in the single settlement’, because ‘people can’t have a good life without a good secure home.’….
The Guardian reported about an event celebrating the Housing First pilot in Manchester that has supported 400 people. The approach is based on the successful Housing First philosophy and policy in Finland: Manchester turns to ‘housing first’ scheme to eradicate rough sleeping
Another participant of the celebration was Mark Donovan, the founder of the Denver Basic Income project (Colorado/USA). He was invited by UBI Lab Manchester. This is the first project in the USA studying the impact of providing a guaranteed income to families and individuals experiencing homelessness. You can watch a short CNN report (4min 16sec) about the project: Denver gave people without housing $12,000. Here’s what happened a year later
2) Basic Income for Farmers (BI4Farmers)
is a grassroots campaign compiled predominantly of landworkers who advocate for a fairer and more sustainable food system. With initial seed funding from Farming The Future, they are now part of the Social Change Nest which means you can now directly support BI4FARMERS by making a donation to help cover their essential running costs and support agricultural workers to attend in-person meetings. You may want to take a look at their open collective page: https://opencollective.com/bi4farmers
You can find out more about BI4Farmers in a report of Wicked Leeks: The case for a basic income for farmers – Steph Wetherell talks to farmers about whether a universal wage is the answer to growing unease and uncertainty in the sector
3) The Welsh government has published an update about the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales.
4) Information about Basic Income and other Cash Transfer pilots and trials in different parts of the world:
At the congress, BIEN (Basic Income Earth Network) launched UBIdata (https://ubidata.io/ ), an innovative new tool with a mission to match reliable information about basic income with a rapidly growing global user base of individuals and organisations eager to learn more.
Another good source of information is the Global Map of Basic Income Experiments of the Stanford Basic Income Lab.
Business Insider has published a report about various types of cash transfers ‘13 countries with active universal basic income and guaranteed basic income programs’. Not every cash transfer which is called a Basic Income fulfils the criteria of a Basic Income!
5) The South African delegation to the BIEN Congress in Bath has sent us some informative links to four South African short movies on basic income:
Institute for Economic Justice: A glimpse into a better future: A basic income for allThis 4 minute video imagines a future South Africa in 2026 in which a Basic Income is available to all.
Universal Basic Income Coalition: South Africa’s leaders agree—social grants must be expanded! It is time for a Basic Income Grant! This brief video compiles statements from leaders of political parties in the run-up to South Africa’s May 2024 elections.
Black Sash: Broken Promises A new Black Sash documentary about a broken social grant system failing the poorest and most vulnerable.
SPI: End Poverty in South Africa: The Case for a R1500 UBI This short video proposes raising the current targeted R370 SRD grant to a R1500 universal basic income.
They welcome comments and questions. Please send them to Neil Coleman from the Institute for Economic Justice:
Work Email: neil.coleman@iej.org.za and Website: www.iej.org.za
6) The inaugural episode of the Basic Income Show organised by Scott Santens:
Universal Basic Guys, Winter Fuel Payments and the Great 2024 CTC Arms Race (1hr43mins)
7) The Los Angeles Times reports about the positive findings of a Guaranteed Income pilot for the poorest families in Los Angeles (USA): Study details ‘transformative’ results from L.A. pilot that guaranteed families $1,000 a month . The detailed research report can be downloaded here.
8) DEEP (Devising an End to Extreme Poverty) organisation has provided an unconditional lumpsum cash transfer to all families in a chosen village of Wardha district in Maharashtra state (India). The place is inhabited by the Kolams, an Adivasi community, designated as Scheduled Tribe and categorized as particularly vulnerable. The findings show an improvement of individual lives and a boost to the local economy. Moreover the diversity of usage signifies that people have varied ways of defining and pursuing development. It is therefore crucial to build the element of choice into any poverty alleviation program. You can download the annual report ‘building up lives’ here.
9) A study published in Basic Income Studies, ‘Exploring young people’s attitudes towards basic income’, has found that a large proportion of young people in the Basque Country (Spain) are supportive of Basic Income (UBI) as a policy that could address pressing social and economic challenges. The research surveyed over 1,200 individuals aged between 18 and 35, revealing that 68% of respondents are in favour of UBI, with many seeing it as a potential solution to growing job insecurity and economic instability. Unfortunately the study is behind a pay-barrier. You can read a press release here.
10) UN report calls for UBI
Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, has published his most recent report. He writes about the burnout economy: poverty and mental health. The section on reducing insecurity with §§ 54-57 contain a strong plea for UBI. Two quotes from this section: ‘The provision of rights-based and unconditional schemes can thus create a sense of security and entitlement, with significant positive mental health impacts.’ and ‘…an unconditional basic income ensures foreseeable income security and a regularity of payment which may minimize the interference with daily concerns of recipients, thus improving their cognitive abilities.’
You can download the full report here.
11) FRIBIS Annual Conference 2024 ‘Towards development of a full UBI’
The hybrid Conference will take place from 7 to 9 October and explore partial basic income models and their integration into existing welfare state systems. The goal is to identify practical approaches to advance the political feasibility of an unconditional basic income. The conference will focus on topics such as social security, sustainability and international perspectives.
You can find information about the conference and registration for in-person or online participation here.
12) Reinhard from UBI Lab Leeds gave the following presentation at the BIEN 2024 Congress: Global social-ecological transformations require an Earth Citizenship with a Universal Basic Income financed through Historical and Commons Compensation Schemes
You can find the download the presentation here. Your critique and comments are very welcome: r.huss@posteo.net
Finally we hope to see you at the Arcadia next week,
In solidarity and
best wishes
reinhard on behalf of UBI Lab Leeds