UBI Piloters Network
Newsletter 10- May '24
Not That Basic: Exposing The System
A documentary about how Basic Income can address exploitation, inequality and the environmental crisis. Over the past few years Aaldrik Bakker and Chiel Epskamp, both filmmakers from The Happiness Economy Foundation, have dedicated their lives laying the groundwork for a big picture documentary about basic income, Not That Basic. To inspire current and next generations they are telling an untold hopeful story about how UBI exposes the current economic system and how to make it more sustainable. “We believe that basic income doesn’t only contribute to social security, but it also helps people to be able to make more sustainable choices,” says Chiel Epskamp, one of the filmmakers behind “Not That Basic.” “It offers people the freedom to choose the type of work they truly want to do while simultaneously reducing pressure on the climate crisis and combating poverty,” says Aaldrik Bakker, the initiator and filmmaker of the project. Since it’s an independent production they need your help to make this happen. Therefore, they are setting up a crowdfund campaign to fund it. They are not live at Kickstarter yet but everyone interested can already follow them on their Kickstarter Campaign. Watch their incredible trailer launching May 1st and read more about their film, mission and vision on their Kickstarter Page too.
You can also donate directly to their website to support them too.
One year report for In Her Hands project
The one year report is now live for the groundbreaking In Her Hands project.
Key Highlights:
Participants were significantly less likely than comparison group members to report finding it “very difficult” to pay their bills (19.2% vs. 48.4%; p<0.01).
Participants experienced significantly fewer utility shutoffs (24.3% vs. 41.7%; p<0.01), missed housing payments(36.6% vs. 53.4%; p<0.01), and evictions(5.9% vs. 14.4%; p<0.01) than comparison group members in the prior six months.
Program participants reported significantly less use of high-cost financial resources than comparison group members in the prior six months, including payday loans (15% vs. 26.3%; p<0.01), pawn shops (22.3% vs. 36.8%; p<0.01), selling blood plasma (11.6% vs. 24.8%; p<0.01) and overdrafting their checking accounts (39.1% vs. 53.7%; p<0.01).
University of Bath Launches the Bath UBI Beacon
The University of Bath has just established 'The Bath UBI Beacon', which is the UK’s first centre of UBI scholarship and teaching. Led by Drs. Neil Howard and Joe Chrisp, the Beacon brings together researchers from multiple disciplines working on basic income and its intersection with various societal challenges, including climate change, public health, and the future of work. The Beacon welcomes visiting faculty and students and is looking forward to deepening its collaborations with colleagues around the world, not least through hosting the BIEN Congress in August.
New themed issue on "Emergency Basic Income: Distraction or Opportunity?” out in the International Social Security Review
This themed issue, guest-edited by Jurgen De Wispelaere and Troy Henderson, examines whether the widespread use of immediate and unconditional cash transfers as a policy response to the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis has provided a boost to cash transfer programmes generally and to emergency basic income (EBI) policies more specifically. The set of 7 articles (and a substantial introduction) charts the reception of EBI-type policies as a pandemic response in specific country or regional contexts, and reflects on their relevance for the future development of universal social protection and, especially, universal basic income (UBI). While the contribution to be made by basic income to realizing resilient and agile social protection policy responses merits serious consideration, in particular in a context where existing social protection systems are patchy and fragmented, important questions remain as to how to evaluate the time-limited EBI crisis response in light of the more durable needs which a permanent UBI purports to address.
'Feminist perspectives of basic income', organised by the Catalan Office of the Pilot Plan to Implement the Universal Basic Income.
'Feminist perspectives of basic income', an event organized by the Office of the Pilot Plan to Implement the Universal Basic Income, was hosted on April 10th at the auditorium of the Administrative District of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DAGC) in Barcelona.
Leticia Morales (Universidad Austral de Chile) delivered the inaugural speech, 'Would basic income benefit women?'. Professor Morales' presentation included practical cases of how a basic income could have a positive impact on the personal and professional careers of many women. It was followed by 'A feminist approach to basic income', a panel with the participation of Sara Berbel, specialist in equality, gender and women's empowerment policies, Itziar Guerendiain, researcher of basic income at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Hanna Sarkkinen, former Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Finland, and Almaz Zelleke, Professor of Political Science at the University of New York Shanghai, with the moderation of journalist Sarah Babiker.
In the following panel, 'The situation of women in Catalonia: challenges and opportunities of a basic income', the issue was grounded to the Catalan arena. Eunice Romero, general director of Migration, Refuge and Antiracism of the Catalan Government, Andrea Alvarado, member of IACTA cooperative of lawyers, Georgina Monge, expert on gender mainstreaming in public administration, took part in the conversation. The panel was moderated by the journalist Carme Porta.
In his closing speech, the director of the Office of the Pilot Plan to Implement the Universal Basic Income, Sergi Raventós, invited the attendees to the next conference on basic income, which will take place on June 10 and will deal with the potential impacts of the proposal in a labor market undergoing a profound transformation.