Economist Stewart Lansley is the co-author (with Howard Reed) of the Compass reports, Basic Income for All: From Desirability to Feasibility, and Universal Basic Income, An Idea Whose Time Has Come? These reports have been cited as evidence that basic income is not a solution to poverty, in this blog Stewart examines this claim.
A key claim for a basic income (BI) — a universal payment to all citizens, no questions asked — is that it would be a powerful way of radically reducing poverty in the UK. This notion however has remained a controversial subject for some. Chris Goulden, Policy Director at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, for example, has argued that, far from tackling poverty, a BI would increase it. It would be better, he claims, to improve the existing system. …
Co-Founder Cleo Goodman talks about how Basic Income came into her life and why she thinks you should join the Basic Income Conversation.
At the end of last year I got my Basic Income. Kind of… I’ve spent almost all my spare time for the last two years working on Basic Income as volunteer director of Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland.
In December I got a (paid) job with Compass, tasked with creating an organisation that would further the case for a Basic Income here in the UK. I was gifted my wonderful Co-Founder Michael Pugh and off we went.
For me, this job is a bit like a Basic Income. I now have meaningful time to work on a project I’m passionate about. One that I think will make the world a better place, one that I worked on when I wasn’t being paid to. …
Michael Pugh, Co-Founder and Director, reflects on his journey through Basic Income as the Basic Income Conversation launches.
Whatever you think of Basic Income, it’s an idea that sticks in your mind. I first heard the idea of giving everyone a regular cash payment, no strings attached, when I was student. It was bold and interesting but I was unsure. I decided to focus my energy on the Living Wage Campaign.
I became a Community Organiser with Citizens UK, organising low paid workers together with civil society to challenge big employers to voluntarily pay a real Living Wage. And we were winning. Playing a role in seeing thousands of cleaners and security guards get Living Wages are some of my proudest moments. …
About
