#minimum income

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Basic Income Motion Tabled By Canadian MP Gains Momentum As 13,000 Sign Petition

New Democrat Member of Parliament Leah Gazan, has proposed a motion, M-46, for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income to replace the CERB.

Over 13,000 Canadians have now signed a petition in support of a recently proposed motion for creating a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income (GLBI).

This comes after Angus Reid polling in June that showed that 60% of Canadians support a form of basic income beyond the current pandemic.

Driving the news: On August 10th, 2020, the New Democrat Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, Leah Gazan, proposed a motion, M-46, for the implementation of a GLBI to replace the CERB.

“COVID-19 has demonstrated that we do have the resources. We must ensure all individuals in Canada can thrive in dignity and that means making investments to ensure basic human rights for all.”

A form of Universal Basic Income (UBI), a GLBI aims to ensure that all Canadians, based on their location, would be given the right to meet what is considered a “living income”, for their given area, supplemented by the government.

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Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[itsnotmatthew]

For a basic standard of living in inner London, a single person needs to earn £29,633 a year, plus benefits and tax credits.

I earn £19,000. I get no benefits or tax credits. I work 7:30 - 5:30 most days, 7:30 -  6 other days. This is not sustainable.

The starting salary for a teacher in London is £28,098, bearing in mind that number is from a “Get into Teaching” website, so it is likely to be optimistic. A teacher, who has spent 3 years getting their undergraduate degree, at a cost of £9,250/year, and then a following year getting their teacher training qualification at another £9,250. That’s £37,000 just to get into the job. And then once they graduate they earn over £1000 less than the minimum needed for a basic standard of living. This is not sustainable.

We cannot keep paying people below what they need to survive. How can profits be so much more important than people surviving?

But don’t worry, joblessness remains at 1.6 million.

[sciencetylia]

Finland to pay basic income of $797 per month in attempt to encourage unemployed to take short-term jobs

Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($797), in a unique social experiment which is hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.

Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA, which is responsible for the country’s social benefits, said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1.

Those chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive.

The average private sector income in Finland is 3,500 euros per month, according to official data.

Kangas said the scheme’s idea is to abolish the “disincentive problem” among the unemployed.

The trial aims to discourage people’s fears “of losing out on something”, he said, adding that the selected persons would continue to receive the 560 euros even after receiving a job.

A jobless person may currently refuse a low-income or short-term job in the fear of having his financial benefits reduced drastically under Finland’s generous but complex social security system.

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[allthecanadianpolitics]

Pandemic proves it's time for basic income for all, economists say

COVID crisis a harsh reminder that 'people were not making enough money to meet their basic needs'

The next time the world is blindsided by a global emergency, the economy will better survive it if everyone is paid what they need to survive it -- before it hits, experts say.

And if employers don't cough up the cash, they say, governments should.

"It is now quite clear that virtually everybody in society has a profound interest in lower-income people having the purchasing power to buy food and pay their rent," said political scientist Ron Hikel.

"It's also quite clear, given the monstrous impact of the coronavirus, that the entire economy can come close to grinding to a halt if they lose that ability."

Many already have.

In the first month of the pandemic, Canada's economy lost more than a million jobs.

As a result, more than seven million people have applied for the Canada emergency response benefit, or CERB, since applications opened on April 6.

"The world wasn't rosy for a whole lot of people before the pandemic came along. But a whole lot of other people who thought they'd always have secure jobs … now find themselves in need," said University of Manitoba economist Evelyn Forget.

"There's nothing like a pandemic to remind us that we're all connected."

That's why both Hikel and Forget — and, for that matter, some world leaders — say it's time for governments to implement a guaranteed minimum income, or "mincome."

The concept is simple: determine how much money individual families need to meet their basic needs. And if that household's generated income isn't enough, the government tops it up.

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Tagging: @politicsofcanada @abpoli

[allthecanadianpolitics]

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-1292

It’s a petition asking for a Minimum Income system to be implemented

–

Anonymous Submission

This is an official government of Canada petition, and its open until January 31, 2018. So far it has 13 signatures.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

'Not part of our approach,' says federal finance minister of guaranteed income

Bill Morneau on cross-country tour

The P.E.I. government should not be expecting Ottawa to reconsider its proposal for a guaranteed income pilot project anytime in the near future, says federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

Morneau is on Prince Edward Island as part of a cross-country tour. On CBC's Island Morning, Morneau told host Matt Rainnie the government's current programs are working, and the economy is improving.

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[allthecanadianpolitics]

Very cool. A basic income pilot will be started in British Columbia if the BC NDP and BC Greens can form government.

Read all the details of the agreement here.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Ontario embraces no-strings-attached basic income experiment

Province to follow trail blazed by Manitoba in the mid-1970s with plan to lift people out of poverty with unconditional monthly payments.

The Richardson family got a new kitchen table and 12-year-old Eric got his first trip to the dentist.

The Wallaces, who had no running water or indoor plumbing in their farmhouse in the 1970s, were able to buy a nearly-new flatbed truck.

Forty years ago, they were among almost 2,200 Manitoba households that participated in “Mincome,” a three-year federal-provincial experiment that sent unconditional monthly payments to low-income families as a way to combat poverty and streamline social programs.

There was little analysis of the project at the time due to a change in government and political priorities in the late 1970s. But a 2011 study of Mincome turned up some interesting findings about the rural community of Dauphin, Man., where the Richardsons and Wallaces lived and where all low-income households were eligible to participate.

Hospital use in the area dropped, including admissions for accidents and mental health problems, according to University of Manitoba researcher Evelyn Forget. Meanwhile, the rate of high school completion increased compared to similar towns at the time.

This month, Ontario is launching its own pilot project to see what happens when low-income families receive monthly payments with no strings attached.

Policymakers want to know if a so-called “basic income” would improve health, housing, and employment outcomes for Ontarians.

Housing Minister Chris Ballard, responsible for Ontario’s poverty reduction strategy, says basic income “has captured people’s imaginations.”

“It’s a rare opportunity to make some real change,” he told the Star. “There has been so much talk, so much written. A little bit of study here, a little bit of study there. A lot of theory. We’re going to have an opportunity to do a rock-solid pilot that is either going to prove or disprove it.”

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