universal basic income

Making Universal Basic Income a reality in Northern Ireland…

Soapbox on March 22, 2021, 11:45 am

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Universal Basic Income (UBI) has come to the forefront of mainstream political and economic debate over the last year as the coronavirus pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the economic precarity faced by so many in society. A UBI would pay every individual enough money to live on with no strings attached, regardless of their income or circumstances. It would not be means-tested or taxed and would be paid directly into each person’s bank account every month. At the height of …

#TheReset: Reducing the risk of ‘stag-deflation’ after COVID…

Jay Burbank on August 26, 2020, 7:13 am

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If the post COVID ‘reset’ works, then it will have to move beyond longstanding structural thorns that western society has so far failed to deal with. The great twentieth century historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote that the period from 1945 to the early 1970s were a ‘golden age’ in human achievement and it was only the breakdown of the mid to late 1970s of economic wellbeing and living standards that broke this unprecedented period of growth. In the height of this …

Safety nets have holes – the need for a Universal Basic Income…

Harry Green on April 4, 2020, 8:00 am

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The time has come in the UK for a Universal Basic Income (UBI). Recently open democracy published a letter signed by senior members of the NHS, MPs, academics and members of the charity sectors calling for a UBI. As the letter states traditional social security policies always leave gaps. The benefits system is supposed to act as a safety net, but all nets have holes. Some people who are in insecure work, self-employed or who’ve been ill often fall through …