How would a universal basic income actually work?
A new report published today by the Carnegie UK Trust sets out the key questions to be addressed to pave the way for a successful basic income pilot in Scotland.
A basic income is the concept of regular, unconditional payments made to all citizens, regardless of whether they are employed or seeking work. The report, written by the Scottish Basic Income Steering Group, highlights learning from basic income pilots underway or in planning in Finland, Ontario and the Netherlands, compiled from discussions with representatives at the Basic Income Earth Network 2018 World Congress.
The report concludes that there is no ‘one size fits all,’ approach to piloting basic income. It makes a series of recommendations around pilot framing, design, implementation, evaluation and communication, in order for a pilot to be delivered successfully within Scotland’s political and institutional context.
The Carnegie UK Trust is supportive of efforts to undertake a basic income pilot in Scotland in order to understand the potential positive and negative effects of the policy. As part of their ongoing feasibility study designed to scope out how a successful pilot could be undertaken in Scotland, Carnegie UK Trust funding has enabled the Scottish Basic Income Steering Group to produce this international learning report.