Basic Income Admin Costs

Until recently we had an unconditional benefit. The child benefit was paid out to everyone with children regardless of their earnings. It was a very cheap benefit to administer costing 0.58 pence for every pound of benefit paid out. Of course now that we have a tax on children for people earning in excess of £50,000 collected through the tax return, the administration cost is liable to go up and it also opens up the possibility of fraud.

Unconditional Basic Income would be at least as cheap to administer as child benefit. If we replaced our other means tested benefits with Basic Income, how much would we save?

I'm finding it difficult to get a figure out of the DWP accounts but it could be as much as 3.4% which is how much the HMRC spend on admin for administration of tax credits and child benefit combined.

What I have found is that 2.1% of the total budget is wasted on errors and fraud. The fraud rate for a basic income would probably run at around 0.1% which is around the same as the fraud rate for pensions.

So if we are generous and say that the admin costs for the DWP are 3% and add in fraud at 2% then we can say that the running costs of the current system is around 5%

Compare that to an estimated 0.58% admin and 0.1% fraud rate for basic income and you can see that potentially there could be some pretty good savings to be made.

If we were to go for a revenue neutral scheme like that proposed by the citizen's income trust, then we could be saving around 7 billion that could go to providing welfare instead of bureaucracy

Don't just take my word for it that means testing is inefficient. The DWP's own annual report is critical of means testing.

Source: DWP Annual Report and Accounts

The report also explains the significant challenge the Department faces in administering a complex benefits system to a high degree of accuracy in a cost effective way. Some benefits, mainly those with means-tested entitlements, are more inherently susceptible to fraud and error due to their complexity, the difficulties in obtaining reliable information to support the claim and the challenges of capturing changes in a claimant’s circumstances. These more difficult to administer benefits, such as Pension Credit, tend to be the ones exhibiting the highest estimated fraud and error rates. The Department is limited in the total resources it can devote to the administration of the complex benefits system, and has to make trade-offs between accuracy checking, customer service and maintaining productivity. We recognise that the Department needs to strike a balance between the need to provide sufficient scrutiny over claims and doing so in a way that is not overly burdensome, otherwise administration of the benefits system would become impractical

Not only is Basic Income cheap to run, but because it is so simple, the effects of raising or lowering it are cheap too. For instance implementing universal credits has costs many millions with no returns.

See what the DWP report has to say on implementation of Universal credits

Source: DWP Annual Report and Accounts

On-going implications for value for money

As noted above, in my report “Universal Credit: early progress” (HC 621) published in September 2013, I concluded that at this early stage of the Universal Credit programme the Department had not achieved value for money. I consider this judgement is reinforced by the Department for Work and Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13 Information in the Department’s 2012-13 Annual Report and Accounts. Up to 31 March 2013, the Department had developed assets with an initial value of £196.1 million for the delivery of Universal Credit. In these accounts it has written off £40.1 million of those assets as it will never use them. It also now expects to write down £91.0 million of the remaining assets to nil value by March 2018, due to the considerable reduction in their expected useful life. While this is the appropriate accounting treatment, it should not detract from the underlying issue that the Department has spent £91.0 million on assets that will only support a limited service for 5 years, with clear consequences for public value.

Basic income can be administered in much the same way as child benefit and possibly could use the same computer systems with a few modifications. It would be great value for money.


Not only that, but the impact of basic income on people's net income is so much easier to calculate because it is simple. The DWP have made such a hash of Universal Credits that some families will actually have less money in their pockets from working extra hours and will in many cases be worse off than under tax credits. This means that they will have less incentive to work.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation have looked at this in detail.

Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation

A couple with two young children, where one person works full time on the minimum wage, after receiving universal credit, would have disposable income of £346 a week. This falls £103 a week short of what the family needs for an acceptable standard of living according to the public.

• If the second earner works 1.5 days a week on the minimum wage they would have disposable income of £369, £80 short of an acceptable standard of living.
• If the second earner works 3 days a week (twice the hours) it would make little difference, with the family only £8 a week better off. Their disposable income would be £377, £72 short of an acceptable standard of living.
• If the second earner works 5 days a week they would actually be worse off. Their disposable income would be £375, £74 short of an acceptable standard of living.

Basic income is much easier to work the impact of changes because its extremely simple. Basic income guarantees that anyone who works even part time will be better off working than if they stayed at home unlike other costly schemes I could mention.


Sign the initiative and more importantly tell everyone you know to sign it.

A Return to Full Employment

Will we ever have full employment again? I think it is pretty unlikely for a number or reasons.

The most controversial reason harks back to an observation by Karl Marx that the capitalist society requires a reserve army of unemployed to provide cheap labour. There is certainly some evidence that there is no real intention to have full employment again. There is even an economic metric called the NAIRU or Natural Accelerated Inflation Rate of Unemployment. The OECD has set the rate for the UK at 6.9% and possibly by complete co-incidence the bank of England recently said that if unemployment drops below 7% they may need to increase interest rates.

The theory behind the NAIRU is that if unemployment drops below the NAIRU then it will cause inflation . Nobody wants inflation least of all the people with all the money. No government is ever going to admit to having a lower target for unemployment, but that said, Norman Lamont let the mask slip in 1991 when he said.

Rising unemployment and the recession have been the price that we have had to pay to get inflation down. That price is well worth paying.

Norman Lamont-Hansard, HC 6Ser vol 191 col 413 (16 May 1991)

Less controversial is the idea that automation is taking our jobs. The acceleration of IT and associated technologies like electronics and robotics continue to be highly disruptive. The first jobs to go will be the low skilled and we are already seeing burger flipping robots, self service kiosks, online ordering and soon to join that list will be driving. Amazon is even considering using drones to deliver parcels. Have a look at Federico Pistono's Ted x talk for some figures.

All this automation will cost jobs,but I don't think its all doom and gloom just yet. Because quite often automation creates new opportunities and new jobs. But the disruption to jobs and the necessary reskilling of the workforce will leave structural gaps that will take time to fill. If the workforce don't have the right skills, jobs will go unfilled.

Another reason why we will not see unemployment drop in the near future, is that there is a big world out there full of people who are getting educated and taking a bigger slice of the pie in the service industry. Why pay British software engineers and project managers when you can outsource to Mumbai? I've seen it at first hand. We were even bringing programmers over from India on special visas while BT was making people redundant. I have news for bankers and captains of industry, even your jobs are not safe.

Wage stagnation and increases in the cost of living will also cost jobs. If we start seeing people take multiple jobs or working longer hours to make ends meet, it will be at the expense of someone else having a job. But lets not also forget that if all the wealth is concentrated in the unproductive parts of the economy we are going to see less and less money spent on the high street and with small business that too will cost jobs.

So given all these reasons why full employment will not happen, why the hell are we treating the unemployed as if they are all lazy and good for nothing. Why do we have to find excuses not to pay them the money they are entitled to and to badger them endlessly to find work that simply isn't there?

Yes there are people who will be happy living on handouts but if we haven't enough work for everyone then why drag them unwilling to jobs. Let the people who want to work do the work.

An unconditional basic income will provide a floor on which people can stand.If they have their basic needs met, then they will have that little bit of extra security, that little bit of extra freedom that will let them look for that better paid job or start a new business or train for a job that would otherwise go unfilled.

With a basic income they don't have to worry that taking a temp job will lead to weeks without money while they have their benefit claim re-processed.  A Basic Income will free people to work.

Maybe it will also allow those of us who are already well-off to work less hours and give someone else a chance to earn some money.


Sign the initiative and  more importantly tell everyone you know to sign it we are running out of time to get the votes in.

Basic Income for Students

Many years ago students used to get a grant from the government to study at university. It was seen as an investment in our future. Grants quickly went by the wayside and were replaced with student loans.

Recently in the news we have seen that  the government has sold £890m of student loans to a debt management consortium for £160m.

Some might argue that this was unrecoverable debt and a shrewd move by the government. While others might argue that they have taken away the student grant and simply given it to private enterprise.

This may just be the start of it. According to the Huffington post the government wants to sell off even more of this debt to raise money in the short term.

They are talking about raising 10 Billion. If they are selling at 20% of the total debt, this means that they are handing over 40 Billion of public money into private hands. When I say public money I mean your money that you have to pay back with interest.

But given that we want people to go to university, why shouldn't we just give them the money? You could argue that they will earn more with higher education than without, but its also true that they will pay more taxes so why pay twice?

So am I arguing for a return of grants? Not really. I would like us to have an unconditional basic income for everyone. If you choose higher education you get your basic income. If you find a better way of getting your training like an apprenticeship or internship, you still get your basic income. If you choose to go to work you still get your basic income and if you are unable to find a job you still get supported.

There is no administrative overhead of supplying grants or chasing repayments because you will simply receive a monthly deposit in your bank account.

Doesn't it make more sense than having the government give your loans to a debt collector?

Sign the initiative and  more importantly tell everyone you know to sign it

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 23: Late again

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You are on a workfare placement and your job centre appointment comes round. The job centre tells you to sign on then go to your placement – which you do. The placement reports you for being late and you get sanctioned for 3 months.	You go to work for a company that is offering a proper secure job because workfare doesn't exist and you don't need to sign on because you automatically receive your basic income.

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 22: Running Late

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You are a mum of two, and are five minutes late for your job centre appointment. You show the advisor the clock on your phone, which is running late. You are sanctioned for a month.	You are five minutes late for an appointment. You continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 21: Form Fail

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You apply for more jobs than required by your jobseeker’s agreement, but forget to state on the form that you checked the local paper (which you’ve been instructed to do by a jobseeker’s direction). You’re sanctioned.	You apply for jobs and continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 20: Big Brother

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System

What if we had basic income?

Your job centre advisor tells you that emailing your CV to a company is not enough; you must physically hand over a paper copy too. You must also provide printouts of all emails to your advisor. You cannot afford this - you do not have your own printer - so are told to give the advisor access to your personal email account. You check with another advisor who tells you to do as the first advisor required.

You email your cv to a company and continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 18: Poor Nan

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You get a job interview but it’s on the day of your nan’s funeral. You attended three interviews the day before. You try to rearrange this one, but company reports you for failing to accept a job. Sanctioned.	You get a job interview but it’s on the day of your nan’s funeral. You attended three interviews the day before. You try to rearrange this one but the company won't. You continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 17: Inappropriate Course

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You are sanctioned for leaving an inappropriate A4e-run Launchpad course as you plan to continue your gardening diploma and volunteering. You ask to appeal the decision and are given the wrong forms.	You leave an inappropriate training course as you plan to continue your gardening diploma and volunteering. You continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 16: Skills You don't have

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You don’t apply for an IT job as it requires skills you don’t have. You get sanctioned.	You don’t apply for an IT job as it requires skills you don’t have. You continue to get basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 15: Youth Club Volunteer

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You volunteer in a youth club. The job centre thinks this is ‘paid work’ so you are sanctioned.	You volunteer in a youth club and continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 14: Interview Clash

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You miss your job centre appointment as it clashes with your work programme interview. You get sanctioned.	You go for an interview and continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 13: Job Expired

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
Your job centre advisor suggests a job. When you go online to apply it says the job has “expired” so you don’t apply. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks.	Your job centre advisor suggests a job. When you go online to apply it says the job has “expired” so you don’t apply. You continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 12: Can't afford to travel

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You can’t afford to travel to look for work so you get sanctioned.	You cant afford to travel to look for work. You continue to receive basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 11: Job Interview Overrun

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You have a job interview which overruns so you arrive at your job centre appointment 9 minutes late. You get sanctioned for a month.	You have a job interview that overruns, you continue to receive basic income

Bob Geldoff wanted your money.

Bob Geldoff wanted your money. I just want your signature.

The European Citizens Initiative for Unconditional basic income is only going to get the Eu to do the research. Its not a commitment to basic income.

So if you are still unconvinced or need more time to understand it that's not a reason not to sign up.Sign the initiative now. Get the democratic process in motion get the pilot studies done and only then do we need a commitment.

If you sign now you could be bringing forward the time when the world is a better fairer happier place.

Give us your fucking signature!

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 10: You’ve been unemployed for 7 months

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You’ve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but can’t afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement.	You are unemployed for seven months and apply for a real job in a shop miles away. Your basic income pays for your travel

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 9: You apply for 6 jobs in a fortnight

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week.	You apply for 6 jobs in a fortnight and continue to receive your basic income

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 8: Training appointment

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You are given a training appointment that clashes with your job centre appointment. The job centre is unwilling to rearrange its appointment and tells you to get a letter from the training organisation. The training organisation says it doesn’t provide letters.	You take job training and your basic income continues to be paid

Is Basic Income Utopian?

The Washington Post recently had an article faintly praising Unconditional Basic Income as Utopian. Clearly it has the potential when paired with automation and progressive taxation to bring about that golden age we have been promised since the dawn of the industrial revolution, where mankind would be freed from drudgery. But in itself Unconditional Basic Income is not utopian. In fact for some it could be the opposite.

Just take a look at the two of the parties with Universal Basic Income as their policy. The Green Party are obvious supporters and one might consider them utopian. But UKIP also have Basic Income as one of their policies. The difference between them is that the green party would use Basic Income as a way of fairly sharing our resources and UKIP probably see it as a way of reducing the welfare beurocracy and  probably intend to keep it as low as possible so as to punish the scroungers. How can both these views be utopian?

To say that basic income is utopian is dismissive, even if it is considered as a back handed complement. We would never be able to implement a utopian form of basic income today, the form it would take in the UK would most likely be largely tax neutral and not too large but that does not mean that it doesn't have utopian potential. Unconditional Basic Income will be essential if we are to avoid terrible inequality as we start to usher in a future where work is rare and unemployment or underemployment is the norm. If you start looking into the future a little way you will see that the current state of affairs cannot continue forever.

Google is developing a driverless car that could eliminate jobs that depend on drivers. Momentum Machines have built a burger flipping robot that could eliminate millions of jobs worldwide. Amazon's warehouses are filled with Robots where once people would have worked. The internet itself is hugely disruptive. Even if new technology creates as many jobs as it destroys for a while yet, we are not going to see full employment again.

So if we accept that unemployment is going to increase in the future how would the current economic situation work if extrapolated to the future. We would most likely see people working harder to keep what few jobs were left. Masses of unemployed people struggling to get by. The power of the wealth would grow out of proportion because they would have a monopoly on jobs. Supply and demand means that those jobs that were left would pay less  because the companies would have a big pool of people to draw from. More and more people would have less money for basic needs. We have already seen civil disorder here in the UK how much worse could it get?

What about with basic income? As the jobs decreased over time people would be able to fall back on their income without any stigma because it would be a right and not a handout. We would need more progressive taxes to fund the basic income as unemployment increased. People would not be at the mercy of companies for work and some would trade full time work for part time work and social work. Wages would most likely go up in some sectors and that would probably accelerate automation. Shorter working hours would make people happier. They would spend more time with their children and before we know it utopia!

Ok so I'm over-egging it a bit. Even with basic income balancing the power of the have's and the have nots will probably be a constant political struggle and we will also need to fight inflation and fix our institutions but I cannot see our current political and economic framework deliver anything other than cyclical misery.

So back to reality, lets forget about utopia for now and look at Basic Income as it would be implemented here and now. If it is to be implemented at all it will probably start small. The citizen's income trust are talking about making it revenue neutral and eliminating administrative waste. The savings are enough to ensure that those on low incomes are better off. If we can get even some small gains from basic income then we have done something constructive and we can pave the way to utopia for our children if they choose to take it.

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 7: Its Christmas Day

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
It’s Christmas Day and you don’t fill in your job search evidence form to show that you’ve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas.	Its Christmas day you have saved some of your basic income to buy gifts for the kids and you take a day off from looking for jobs

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 6: You are forced to retire due to a heart condition

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You are forced to retire due to a heart condition, and you claim Employment and Support Allowance. During your assessment you have a heart attack. You are sanctioned for not completing your assessment.	This scenario is dependent on how basic income is implemented because there are many approaches. One possible scenario is that you continue to receive basic income and because you are medically retired you get a high rate or additional benefits

Basic Income vs Living Wage

Ed Miliband has put Living Wage back into the spotlight saying that he is going to give firms a 12 month tax break if they pay a living wage to their employees. The tax break would allow employers to make up a third of the cost. To me this seems like a shallow electoral promise. For starters its not really an incentive for employers because it will cost them money in the long run. If they can't see the point of paying a living wage now, why would a 12 month tax break that doesn't cover the cost change their minds now? The end result is that companies will only take it if it benefits them and even if there is very little take-up. Labour will still be able to claim an election promise has been kept. Am I too cynical?

If Ed really wanted to help people he would have a Citizen's Unconditional Basic Income as his party policy. Unconditional Basic Income would provide everyone in the nation with a basic income granted by the government. It would largely replace the means tested benefit system and tax credits and allowances and in eliminating the costly bureaucracy of means tested benefits, more money would go to the people who need it most.

The European Citizens' Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income is a democratic inititive that if successful will force the european union to explore the options. You can vote now for a basic income here http://basicincome2013.eu/

With a basic income We wouldn't need the government to curry favour with businesses to improve people's lives, the people themselves would have better negotiating power because they wouldn't have to face the uncertainty of applying for benefits and having no income while their application is assessed. They would still have an incentive to work because a minimum wage on top of a basic income would make them far better off.


You probably have lots of questions like how would we pay for it? I'd recommend you have a look at the attached video for some more information but if you don't like video or want to see some proposals for the UK you can have a look at what the citizen's income trust have proposed for the UK their 12 page booklet is well worth a read and has lots of detail.

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 5: You get a job that starts in two weeks time

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You get a job that starts in two weeks time. You don’t look for work while you are waiting for the job to start. You’re sanctioned.	You get a job that starts in two weeks time. Your basic income keeps you going until you start work and when you start work your taxes pay for part or all of your basic income that you continue to receive while you work.

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 4: You work for 20 years

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You work for 20 years and then miss a job centre appointment because you haven’t had the process clearly explained. You are sanctioned for 3 weeks.	You work for 20 years and become unemployed, your basic income keeps you going until you are able to find more work

Basic Income For the Small Business

Here is how basic income could help you if you run a small business or are thinking of setting up a small business.

Small businesses will face cash flow problems from time to time. If you are just starting up it may be because you haven't established your customer base yet. Perhaps your business is seasonal and you operate at a loss in the off season or maybe your customers don't pay on time. For whatever reason, you still need enough money to pay yourselves. If you have to take out more loans to pay the bills and provide you with an income during those periods, you are then saddled with servicing that debt as well as all the other costs.

With basic income it will provide you and your family sufficient to survive even if your business is not bringing in any cash. It means that you as a business owner do not have to provide for yourself during a lean period and it could make all the difference between staying afloat and folding. When your business is back in the black, your taxes will pay back society for the help it has given you to establish your business.

Another way it could help you is if you have an ideal partner to start a business together but they don't want to take the risk of not having any income. If they had a basic income then they might be willing to work in partnership in exchange for a stake in the company. They could do this safe in the knowledge that their basic needs will be provided for while they establish the business.

But enough about you. Here is another way basic income helps. Anyone who takes work gets to keep their basic income. It's unconditional. That means that all those people on low income who cant afford your products and services now are going to have a little extra cash to splash. They may use some of it to pay of their debts but when people have a bit of extra money and aren't struggling to make ends meet, then they will spend a bit more with you.

So vote now for the European Citizens' Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income to get the ball rolling.  You can sign up here. http://basicincome2013.eu/

Your vote isn't enough, we need to get the message out. So if you approve of basic income why don't you print off some flyers and hand them out to your customers. You can access the press-kit at http://basicincome2013.eu/ubi/press-kit/

We have also started a crowd funding campaign to raise money for advertising so that we get get the idea in front of as many people as possible. If you can spare a little money, please consider paying into our crowd funding scheme. http://funding.basicincome2013.eu/

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 3: You change your CV

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You’ve signed in on time, been to interviews and applied for work. Your job centre advisor suggests you make a two-line change to your CV, which you do, but fail to give the updated CV to the job centre (you weren’t told you had to). You are sanctioned for four weeks.	You’ve been to interviews and applied for work. Your job centre advisor suggests you make a two-line change to your CV, which you do. You continue to receive basic income.

Stupid Sanctions vs Basic Income 2: You get a job interview

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System	What if we had basic income?
You get a job interview. It’s at the same time as your job centre appointment, so you reschedule the job centre. You attend your rearranged appointment and then get a letter saying your benefits will be stopped because going to a job interview isn’t a good enough reason to miss an appointment	You get a job interview. You go. You continue to receive your basic income

Stupid Sanctions Vs Basic Income 1: Your Gran Dies

There is a website called A Selection of Especially Stupid Benefit Sanctions filled with stories of ways in which our broken benefits system hurts people. I thought it would be good to compare what would have happened with welfare replaced by Basic Income Guarantee.

Of course its not terribly exciting because basic income doesn't judge people or make mistakes.

Our Current Welfare System

What if we had basic income?

Your gran dies during the night. The next morning your partner calls the job centre and asks if you can come in the following day instead. The centre agrees, and you sign in the next day. Then you get a letter stating that you failed to sign in and would be sanctioned if you don’t reply within seven days. You reply, explaining the situation. The job centre gives you a six-week sanction for not replying.

Your gran dies during the night. You continue to receive your basic income

Basic Income Elevator Pitch

So far signature collection for a Basic Income is quite slow and the only way to speed things up is to talk to more people. That means that I may have to actually canvas people on the street to make this thing work. But if I do that I'm going to need to be able to persuade people that its worth considering in quite a short space of time. What I need is an elevator pitch.

I found a post on Basic Income News on the very topic and Timothy Roscoe Carter has come up with one minute pitches aimed at specific political and economic points of view. 

The only problem is that ordinary people like myself don't generally classify themselves an Keynesians or Georgists and while some might consider themselves conservative or liberal, they aren't in a strict academic sense. So unless I go canvassing the London School of Economics its likely that these cases would fall on deaf ears.

That's not to say that they don't have good points I think they are all good cases and the fact that there is much to like about basic income for all shades of the political spectrum is what gives me hope that it could become a reality one day.

The one minute feminist case for a basic income:

Patriarchy has put the world’s wealth in the hands of men, prevented women from being professionals and entrepreneurs, forced poor women into dead-end second-class labor jobs, and forced all women to become unpaid domestic servants and caretakers of the young, elderly, and disabled of their families. Women have been forced to be financially dependent on fathers or husbands who are often abusive. A basic income would change all of this. A basic income would be a massive transfer of wealth from men to women. Women would be free of financial dependence on any man, and the young, elderly, and disabled would all be fully supported. Women could afford to leave abusive husbands, those who chose to be caretakers would be fully compensated, and no woman would be forced into a dead-end job, and would instead be able to pursue her own financial goals as she saw fit. - Timothy Roscoe Carter

You can read more of these one minute cases on the Basic Income News website

So I need an elevator pitch something that will make people take the idea seriously and hopefully they will  become engaged and not just sign the petition but become activists as well.  

So this is my pitch. I'll probably end up tweaking it here or there but for me these are some of  the core values of basic income.

Basic Income replaces our wasteful bureaucratic means tested welfare system with a basic income granted to all citizens rich or poor. The unemployed will receive no more or less than they get now but if they choose to work they get to keep all of their additional earnings less tax. Basic income will help people back into work because work will really pay. Hard working families at the poverty line will get a much needed boost to their income and this will also boost the economy. Basic income will be financed by the abolition of means tested benefits and its wasteful bureaucracy and through replacement of tax allowances. It will put more money into the hands of more than 80% of the population without significantly adding to the tax burden of the other 20%

I'd be interested in your opinions.

Commune 2000AD

I first heard of the idea of  a citizens income when I was a teenager, reading Commune 2000AD by Mack Reynolds. Admittedly I found the idea of sexual liberation far more compelling at the time than the idea of a basic income for all citizens and it wasn't something that had any great impact on me. It wasn't till decades later that a friend suggested that it was an answer to the many issues surrounding the welfare system that it started to get some traction in my thick skull. Then one day the penny dropped and I realised that it could be a real solution that could chime with people from all across the political spectrum.

I'm setting up this blog so that I can discuss the benefits of Basic Income and support the European Citizens' Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income
 
The European Citizens' Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income petition is happening right now and if we can get a million signatures, then we can put Basic Income firmly into the political arena and maybe come a little closer to making it happen. If we demand it, then maybe we can make it a reality