Tag: basic income

Wausau Could Become First Wisconsin City To Launch Guaranteed Income Pilot Program

Wausau Could Become First Wisconsin City To Launch Guaranteed Income Pilot Program

A group of struggling families in Wausau could get $500 per month with no strings attached under a program designed to study the effects of providing a guaranteed income.

If the city accepts a $100,000 grant to fund the project, Wausau could be the first city in Wisconsin to launch a guaranteed income program. The city would have to determine eligibility requirements, said Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg, but it’s likely the grant would fund payments for a year to about 12 families living at or near the poverty line .

The point of a guaranteed income program is to give money […]

59 Percent of Likely Voters Support Local Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Programs

59 Percent of Likely Voters Support Local Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Programs

Amid an economic crisis and devastating unemployment that has families across the country struggling to afford basic needs, a new national poll by Data for Progress and The Lab, a policy vertical of The Appeal, shows that a majority of American voters support supplementing the existing social safety net with targeted, direct cash payments at the local level: 59% of likely voters, including 78% of Democrats, 54% of independents, and 40% of Republicans support piloting local guaranteed income programs that provide direct cash payments of $500 to $1,000 per month to people in need.

Key Takeaways:

With millions unable […]

Greens call for musicians to have visa-free access to the EU

Greens call for musicians to have visa-free access to the EU

The Green Party has backed a letter from some of the UK’s leading musicians calling on the Government to ensure musicians continued ability to travel paperwork-free whilst they tour the EU in the post-Brexit era.

The open letter, addressed to the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and signed by 110 musical artists, would ensure touring musicians would not have to go through the costly and bureaucratic process of gaining visas for each country they travel through.

It requests paperwork-free travel is negotiated for British artists and a reciprocal deal is introduced for European acts wishing to play in British venues.The letter follows […]

Wausau Could Become First Wisconsin City To Launch Guaranteed Income Pilot Program

Wausau Could Become First Wisconsin City To Launch Guaranteed Income Pilot Program

A group of struggling families in Wausau could get $500 per month with no strings attached under a program designed to study the effects of providing a guaranteed income.

If the city accepts a $100,000 grant to fund the project, Wausau could be the first city in Wisconsin to launch a guaranteed income program. The city would have to determine eligibility requirements, said Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg, but it’s likely the grant would fund payments for a year to about 12 families living at or near the poverty line .

The point of a guaranteed income program is to give money […]

Amy Schumer, Eva Longoria and More Famous Women Demand ‘Marshall Plan for Moms’ During Biden’s First 100 Days

Amy Schumer, Eva Longoria and More Famous Women Demand ‘Marshall Plan for Moms’ During Biden’s First 100 Days

Female celebs including Eva Longoria have signed a full-page ad calling on a basic income for moms and paid parental leave. (Credit: ImagineCup, Flickr) Imagine this: a basic income for all mothers.

That might not be such a far-fetched fantasy with a new administration that has promised forward-looking policies, combined with the pressure-cooker effects the pandemic has had on women juggling jobs and childcare for months on end.

Fifty women — celebrities and activists including Eva Longoria, Gabrielle Union, Charlize Theron, Tarana Burke and Amy Schumer — signed their names onto a full-page ad in the New York Times calling on […]

Universal basic income and covid-19 pandemic

Evidence backs up health benefits and may show the way forward

The gulf between the wealthiest and poorest had been increasing even before the covid-19 destroyed the globe’s health and economies. 1 Recent research indicates a growing depth of poverty, and women and children are the biggest casualties of this deepening divide. 2 The World Bank predicts the number of people in extreme poverty will increase by 70-100 million in 2021 alone. 3

Welfare programmes were often criticised as unable to deal with economic changes, such as the threat of automation and rise in flexible work. However, since March 2020, […]

Rwanda’s Kagame backs proposed global social protection fund

Rwanda's Kagame backs proposed global social protection fund

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame on Monday welcomed the proposed establishment of a global social protection fund, saying it will build resilience among societies to help them navigate the economic impact of future pandemics. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame talks during an interactive interview with Rwanda Broadcasting Agency in Kigali, Rwanda September 6, 2020. September 6, 2020. President Communications Office/Handout via REUTERS The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed glaring inequalities among the world’s workers. Nearly half of the globe’s 3.3 billion workforce has been thrust into the risk of losing their livelihoods by the crisis, the World Economic Forum […]

Basic Income in Belgium: Towards a Youth Basic Income ?

Basic Income in Belgium: Towards a Youth Basic Income ?

A country report by Kim Evangelista

Universal Basic Income is massively debated in Belgium . It has been the topic of many conferences, debates, studies and press coverage in the past few years and has had a strong resurgence since the Covid crisis.

Ecolo (the French speaking Belgian Green Party) is a strong supporter of UBI and a very vocal actor in the public debate. In December 2020, the co-president of the party, Rajae Maouane, proposed an Unconditional Basic Income for the young (18-26 years old), a campaign pledge since the European and Belgian federal election of 2019. […]

ANC policymakers endorse a basic income grant, but it is still far from being implemented

ANC policymakers endorse a basic income grant, but it is still far from being implemented

158k The ANC social transformation subcommittee said getting a decision from the government on a basic income grant, drawing up financing mechanisms for it and getting Parliament to approve it could take up to two years.

ANC head honchos have proposed two key income-relief measures for poor people hit the hardest by the Covid-19 lockdown: the extension of the R350-a-month social grant beyond January, and the introduction of a basic income grant (BIG).

The R350 social grant was introduced by the government in May 2020 to provide relief to individuals above the age of 18 who are unemployed, do […]

[Herald Interview] Young feminist runs for Seoul mayor

[Herald Interview] Young feminist runs for Seoul mayor

Shin Ji-hye, head of the Basic Income Party (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) Shin Ji-hye, a 33-year-old feminist and socially liberal politician, hopes to set off sweeping changes in the nation and challenge social, financial and gender inequality, starting with the Seoul mayoral election.

Shin, a representative of the minor Basic Income Party, and other members of her party believe a new social contract is necessary in an era where decent jobs are on the decline, poverty is growing, inequality is widening and housing prices are skyrocketing.

“We created this party believing that the state should provide a basic monthly income for […]