Spain has long had one of the highest levels of unemployment in the European Union. To all intents and purposes, a modern and prosperous country, a mature democracy, with universal health coverage and regarded enviously by many of its neighbors for its quality of life, Spain is also a popular tourism destination, attracting visitors from all over the world.
How does Spain manage to keep its very high unemployment figures from generating streeet demonstrations and social conflict? Has it discovered something that other countries do not know?
One reason there is no rioting on the streets is that half of the adult population depends on some kind of government assistance, a state pension, or publicly funded employment (link in Spanish).
Maybe naïve questions: How does #UBI sits in the #MMT framework? Public spending would far exceed production in the first months/years of the policy being enacted, since it can’t replace all social benefits?
Unconditional #BasicIncome isn't a silver bullet, but we're also not trying to kill a werewolf. It's a significant step towards improving mental health, reducing crime, and building a resilient society against existential threats by fostering economic security and social capital. #UBI
Early findings from the world’s largest #UBI study | GiveDirectly
“…Researchers found recipients in both UBI groups bought land, became more entrepreneurial, and earned more. The common concern of “laziness” never materialized, as people did not work less nor drink more.
A large lump sum and a long-term UBI were highly effective. The lump sum enabled big investments and the guarantee of 12 years of UBI encouraged savings and risk-taking…” https://www.givedirectly.org/2023-ubi-results/
Unconditional basic income isn't just dollar bills. It's freedom, trust, security, and power. It's a world where your value isn't measured by societal expectations. The old regime shivers at this shift – they'd sooner dub us idle than confront their fear of an unleashed and empowered society.
If you live in the US and want to know of a policy that you can support to fight climate change, I think you should look into the Carbon Dividend proposals.
Simply put this is the combination of a fee or tax levied on carbon producers. All of the money collected would be paid back to households in the form of dividends. The fee would gradually increase over time.
People raise concerns about Universal Basic Income starting with "what if, without the threat of destitution, we didn't have enough labor to fill the most basic jobs because people at their core don't want to work?"
I think this misunderstands what people don't want to do?
People want to be useful. People want to make stuff happen. People get satisfaction from all kinds of jobs, including customer service and retail!
People don't want to do bullshit. People don't want burnout. #UBI
Ogni tanto ripenso a come la mia “balzana” idea per un #UBI da 300€/mese sarebbe stato un impiego dei fondi #PNRR piú efficace, per il rilancio dell'economia, del 99% dei progetti su cui sono stati spesi (o persi).
tl;dr: money always helps, but for the very poor, one lump sum can last a long time.
The latest research on the GiveDirectly pilot, done by MIT economists Tavneet Suri and Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee, compares three groups: short-term basic income recipients (who got the $20 payments for two years), long-term basic income recipients (who get the money for the full 12 years), and lump sum recipients, who got $500 all at once, or roughly the same amount as the short-term basic income group.
🌞 Good morning #fediverse! This is GBH #News bringing you the world from #Boston. It's 29F at Logan Airport and visibility is 10 miles.
Jackson Square, where hundreds of homes and businesses were demolished to make way for a highway that was never built, is becoming home to new mixed-income apartments. #housing
Boston is weighing a guaranteed basic income program. #UBI
Mediators are looking to extend the truce in Gaza, more hostage swaps planned.
"... with UBI there are people who are recession-proof, do you not think it's a waste of money to have basic income going to them every month, when there are people in desperate need who could be having more?"
Cash is freedom. That has been Denver Basic Income Project founder Mark Donovan’s refrain as he led a program that provided more than 800 homeless people in the Denver area with no-strings-attached cash payments every month for the last year.
For recipients Dia Broncucia, 53, and Justin Searls, 45, those payments have been a manifestation of a different concept: hope.
The money got them off the street, played a critical role in helping Broncucia recover from Stage 3 breast cancer and was a catalyst as the couple charts a new course for their lives after getting sober following years of drug use.
@RickiTarr I don't know if America will ever get it, but in Canada we've spent years trying to get #UBI (universal basic income) which would get everyone under the same program (disability, welfare, old age security, mat leave, etc.), would more than double my payments, and save the government an expected 50% on social payments having it all together. we had a very successful pilot program going until the crack smoking mayor's brother, a trump wannabe, became Premiere and canceled it
Does it really make sense to have a fixed age, above which everyone gets a UBI? That creates massive inequalities in how much of their potential UBI payments different people actually get to spend.
People with white collar jobs tend to live longer than people who physical work. Pākeha tend to live longer than Māori. Women tend to live longer than men. The more we push the retirement age up, the more stark these inequalities become.
It's true that all else remaining the same, NZ can't afford to keep paying everyone over 64 a UBI. So maybe we need to give everyone a UBI, and increase taxes on the accumulation of wealth to pay for it?
For anyone interested in #UBI#BasicIncome the UBILab Arts & UBILab Leeds & Basic Income #Ireland are holding an online event to do with the Irish UBI trial, on December 6th.
Not basic, that is a trap that conservatives hope we can fall into because it just lets them bog it down into calling basics luxuries, and restart the race to the bottom argument again.
It is a Living Income, that allows for "luxuries" as well as basics.
Femicidio —the killing of women for being women— is treated here in USA as part & parcel of machismo that only applies to those guys south of the border. but machismo is just Spanish argot for patriarchy.
All across Latinoamérica, localities are passing laws to treat femicide as a hate crime and not a "crime of passion"; Puerto Rico included.
Brasil is going one step further: Lula just signed into law #UBI/#SocialSecurity for children left orphaned by femicide
Newfoundland and Labrador take a step toward a Basic Income for ages 60-64!
""When you look at a basic income, that's generally what happens. You collapse these programs so that they are able to be provided through a basic income altogether, to eliminate the complexity altogether, so people can get the support that they need," [Premier Furey] said.
The province will add a targeted basic income for people between 60 and 64 years old who are currently receiving basic monthly financial support. That amount will equal the federal seniors' benefits and provide higher monthly incomes through a single source, according to the province. That program change will begin in April."