Category Archives: Basic Income Guarantee

A scheme guaranteeing a basic income for artists is to be piloted as part of the Governments economic recovery plan.

Minister for the Arts Catherine Martin announced on Tuesday that she had secured a Government commitment to prioritising the scheme.

Ms Martin said a proposal for the pilot scheme would be developed by July in partnership with Minister Heather Humphreys of the Department of Social Protection.

This was the number one recommendation from artists and the sector through the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce Report Life Worth Living, she said.

It is an unprecedented move and the pilot scheme will involve a significant number of artists.

We recognise that bold steps are necessary for our invaluable and much treasured arts community to come back stronger than ever before.

The Minister confirmed that a separate new fund of 11.5 million for the entertainment industry, including festivals, conferencing and large events, was agreed at Cabinet today with Tnaiste Leo Varadkar.

The Events Sector Covid Support Scheme (ESCSS) will support SMEs which are not eligible for the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS).

Ms Martin also said the new Music and Entertainment Business Assistance Scheme (MEBAS) will open for the live performance industry on June 9th.

The payment is targeted at helping bands, musicians, suppliers and music businesses, with payment levels ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 dependent on business turnover and costs.

Crucially, the plan specifically recognises the unique challenges that have been faced by sectors

Ireland

Recovery plan: PUP to be cut, business supports an...

A separate 5 million in funding to support live music in villages and towns across the country has now also been released for local authorities, Ms Martin said following the Cabinet meeting.

Amounts of 285,000 are now available to Dublin local authorities, and 143,000 to other local authorities, to facilitate the programming of outdoor live performances over the summer months.

The Minister said the national economic recovery plan included tens of millions of euro in ongoing support for sectors such as tourism, hospitality, live events and the arts.

Crucially, the plan specifically recognises the unique challenges that have been faced by sectors such as tourism, the events sector, Gaeltacht, sports, arts and culture and media, and sets out a package of supports that are being put into place to safeguard and stimulate these sectors, she said.

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Basic income guarantee scheme to be piloted for artists

Investors are captive to Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and its convenient non-answers to the vexed issues of economic stagnation, unsustainable public finances and debt. Peoples savings are underwritten by high asset prices, courtesy of this novel brand of economics.

A state, MMT argues, does not finance its spending out of taxes or borrowing but by creating money. Nations cannot go bankrupt when it can print its currency. Therefore, a country with its own currency can run deficits and accumulate debt at almost whatever level deemed necessary.

Little about MMT is new. Keynesian deficit spending has been used since the 1930s. A countrys ability to print its own currency has been accepted since the end of the gold standard in the 1970s. Central-bank financed government spending via quantitative easing has been used extensively by Japan since 1990 and globally since 2008.

MMT advocates that in the face of inadequate demand, governments spend to move the economy to full employment. This is the job guarantee which requires everyone who is willing to work to have one. An alternative, unpopular among MMT advocates, is for government-funded universal basic income (UBI), providing every individual an unconditional flat-rate payment irrespective of circumstances.

MMT ignores several issues. First, it is unclear where useful, well-paid work will come from and how jobs will be created. Government influence over the productive sector that produces actual goods and services is limited. The impact of employment-reducing technology and competitive global supply chains is glossed over. It is unclear whether the deficit spending needs to be productive or how it will achieve an acceptable financial or social rate of return.

Second, critics point to the risk of inflation. Large deficits financed by money creation exceeding economic production changes can lead to hyperinflation. MMT acknowledges the risk but only where the economy is at full employment or there is no excess capacity. Government, MMT-ers argue, can raise taxes or reduce spending to control inflationary pressures.

Third, the idea only applies to states able to issue their own fiat currencies. It could not be applied to the European Union, where individual nations have ceded currency sovereignty to the European Central Bank. It is also unavailable to private businesses or households, unless the state underwrites private debt.

Fourth, the exchange rate may be a constraint. Where a country borrows in its own currency from foreigners or engages in cross-border trade, investors must have confidence in the government, monetary authorities and the stability of the exchange rate. As periodic U.S. dollar DXY, +0.08% weakness shows, excess deficits and money printing may cause financial markets to lose confidence and force a devaluation,. Businesses may not be able to import goods at affordable cost or service foreign currency denominated debt.

Fifth, there are operational challenges. In addition to creating the right jobs, it is necessary to set the natural rate of employment or the UBI level and structure. Measures used to set policy, such as unemployment, inflation rate, money supply statistics or output gaps, are complex to calculate.

Finally, the transition to MMT may create instability. An exchange-rate or inflation shock would affect existing investors and trade. Policymakers may be unable to control the process once set in motion. Where supply constraints are reached, excessive deficit-financed spending would result in inflation, higher rates and a currency correction. As with all policy, lags in the availability of data, which may be ambiguous, make management difficult. It is uncertain what would happen if MMT failed. The road back from any experiment is problematic and the difference between theory and practice is larger in reality than in concept.

Governments and central banks have adopted elements of MMT by stealth. It underwrites elevated asset prices which, in turn, secure unprecedented levels of borrowing.

Unfortunately, if printing money and deficit spending was all it took to ensure prosperity, then it is surprising that it hadnt been thought of and enthusiastically embraced earlier. Whether they recognize it or not, investors are now unwitting participants in an economic experiment that will affect the value of their investments and savings.

Satyajit Das is a former banker. He is the author of A Banquet of Consequences Reloaded: How we got into this mess were in and why we need to act now(Penguin 2021).

More: Prices are soaring and Americans arent happy about it. Dont worry, says the Fed.

Plus: Worried about inflation? Heres how investments did in the 1970s

Read more:

Money printing is a flawed experiment that's done America more harm than good - MarketWatch

THE introduction of a universal basic income (UBI) and freeing Scotland from a crazy system of welfare which generates poverty is one of the great opportunities forindependence, according to a leading campaigner.

Dr Simon Duffy, founder and director of The Centre for Welfare Reform, said political momentum was building internationally behind the idea of government guaranteeing a regular minimum income to every citizen and it was no longer considered weird.

Scotland has looked at the feasibility of piloting Citizens Basic Income, concluding it would be desirable but the powers to run such a scheme lie with Westminster.

The SNPs manifesto for the election this year pledged to work towards providing a minimum income guarantee so that everyone in Scotland has enough money to live a dignified life.

In May, Wales announced it would conduct an experiment to test the concept and success of UBI.

Duffy, who will speak at an event on UBI on Thursday organised by Voices for Scotland, said: Obviously Scotland has already showed great leadership in this field, but there is also a lot going on internationally.

Scotland is not alone, this is not very weird now. Mark Drakeford has committed to a pilot of basic income in Wales and all the political parties now in Northern Ireland either back basic income in full or the piloting of basic income.

It is quite exciting to see all of the places suddenly lift their head up and go we can imagine a better future, with all the wealth we have we dont need to leave people in poverty, we do not need to create this false sense of abject insecurity.

Duffy said the pandemic was a major factor in sparking interest in UBI, as well as longer-term issues such as vanishing job security.

It reveals how fundamentally insecure peoples basic economic position is, how most of us are only a few weeks from poverty, he said.

We just blithely carry on assuming everything is going to stay the same. Of course these kind of moments reveal that actually, very big shocks are possible.

He added: The longer term discussions which have ramped up over the last five to 10 years have been around automation, but in particular digitalisation.

Whats really under threat and I think this is why basic income is going to succeed is because it is going to threaten middle-class jobs, white collar jobs.

In August, international experts will virtually attend the Basic Income Earth Networks annual congress which is being organised from Glasgow.

Duffy said introducing UBI would be a huge opportunity for an independent Scotland.

He said: You end up with the opportunity to say this is what we are going to make sure everyone gets effectively the government will put this into your bank account and when you earn over and above that you will be taxed at a fair rate. That is the essence of what basic income delivers.

The Scottish Government is right to say it is very difficult to do it at the moment, other than in pilots, but we shouldnt confuse the trickiness in the current settlement with whats possible with independence or a radically different kind of Union.

Freeing Scotland from this kind of crazy Whitehall system which has been generating poverty for decades is one of the great opportunities for independence.

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Universal basic income would be 'great opportunity' for independence - The National

Millions of families are set to be left with less than half of the income required to have an acceptable standard of living following the planned cut to universal credit in three months time, new research finds.

A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) warns that the 20-a-week benefit cut, due to take place at the end of September, would reduce the value of out-of-work welfare support to its lowest recorded level relative to what the public thinks is an acceptable income.

Separate research by the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) meanwhile reveals that over a million children in key worker households live in poverty, prompting calls for a halt on the scaling back of universal credit.

It comes amid mounting disquiet among Tory MPs over the governments reluctance to extend the measure first introduced at the onset of the pandemic despite the impact of the crisis continuing to reverberate.

The JRFs findings are based on the charitys Minimum Income Standard (MIS) for the UK, which is based on discussions with members of the public about what they think is needed to achieve an acceptable standard of living, and acts as a benchmark of minimum living standards.

For a working age couple with two young children this is 482 per week, excluding rent/mortgage, childcare and council tax. For a working age couple without children it is 356 and for a single working age adult without children it stands at 213.

The research, carried out by Loughborough Universitys centre for research in social policy, estimates that around 2 million people living in out of work households are likely to be living on incomes below half of the MIS if the planned cut to universal credit goes ahead.

It finds that the cut would reduce the value of this support to 55 per cent of MIS for a couple with two young children, and just 33 per cent of MIS for a single working-age person without children.

The report notes that some working parents have in recent years been able to get closer to MIS due to increases in the National Living Wage, the universal credit uplift and increased support for childcare in the benefit system.

However, the researchers warn that this risks being reversed for most families who have benefited if universal credit is cut.

Describing the findings as deeply concerning, Iain Porter, policy and partnerships manager at the JRF, said it would be a terrible mistake for ministers to go ahead with the planned cut, which he warned would leave millions of families unable to meet their needs.

Social security should be strong enough for all of us when we need a lifeline, but cuts and freezes in recent years have left it to wear thin and threadbare. We urgently need to restore public confidence by investing in adequate social security support for families when they need it, he added.

It comes as TUC research, produced by Landman Economics, revealed that over a million children of key workers are currently living in poverty, with more than a quarter of youngsters with parents or carers in key worker jobs not having enough to live on.

Key worker families in the North East have the highest rate of child poverty (29 per cent), followed by London (27 per cent), the West Midlands (25 per cent) and Yorkshire and the Humber (25 per cent), the research finds.

The TUC said the main reasons for key worker family poverty were low pay and insecure hours, and is called on ministers to cancel the 20 weekly cut, warning that universal credit was not enough to guarantee families avoid poverty.

The unions general secretary Frances OGrady said: Every key worker deserves a decent standard of living for their family. But too often their hard work is not paying off like it should. And they struggle to keep up with the basic costs of family life.

This isnt just about doing right thing by key workers. If we put more money in the pockets of working families, their spending will help our businesses and high streets recover. Its the fuel in the tank that our economy needs.

Director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, Imran Hussain, said: The planned 20 a week cut to universal credit in October is likely to throw more children into poverty. The Government should think again and choose to back the low paid.

Over the weekend, the Northern Research Group (NRG), which represents around 50 MPs, called on ministers to keep the increase in place, describing the emergency payments as a life-saver for people during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government has been approached for comment.

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Universal credit cut set to leave millions with less than half of acceptable living standards income - The Independent

First Minister Mark Drakeford suggested the idea will be discussed in the Senedd in his acceptance speech. UBI Lab Networks Sam Gregory explains why a UBI is more relevant than ever

A Universal Basic Income has been debated for years but the pandemic has shifted the conversation across the world, including in Wales and London. Image credit: Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A universal basic income is closer than ever to its first UK trial after Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford suggested the idea will be discussed in the Senedd during his term.

In an acceptance speech following his May 6 election victory, Drakeford said he would open the door to new and progressive ideas and namechecked a universal basic income, an idea to open up more opportunities by giving everyone a base rate of income.

Drakeford said: We will govern in a way that seeks out consensus and will take on board new and progressive ideas from wherever they come. Ideas that can improve and enhance what we discuss in this chamber.

From coronavirus to clean air; from universal basic income to ensuring young people are not priced out of Welsh-speaking communities. This will be a government that listens and will work collaboratively with others where it is in the interests of Wales to do so.

The idea of a universal basic income has proven to be a controversial one in the past and UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has repeatedly rejected the idea during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other countries have made tentative moves towards a UBI with their own economic response. The Spanish government introduced a Minimum Vital Income in May 2020 while not universal as it was paid only to low-income families, it is a first step towards a UBI.

Its a similar story in the US where President Biden introduced a series of $1,400 (1,000) payments for single adults earning less than $75,000 (54,000) a year.

The Scottish Government has run studies to test the feasibility of the idea in recent years and both the Lib Dems and Greens pledged to trial a UBI in their Scottish election manifestos. The Lib Dems did the same during their campaign in Wales before Drakeford paved the way for the idea to be tested in Wales with his acceptance speech.

A Welsh trial could provide the large-scale proving ground that the idea needs.

So far, Finland has given the idea its most thorough test. The 2,000 Finns who took part in a trial in 2017 and 2018 were happier while receiving the payment and there was a very slight increase in employment. Crucially, UBI detractors fears that people would take the cash and avoid work proved unfounded.

Or London could provide the place for a pilot. The London Assemblys Economic Committee gave the green light for the capital to become the largest city in the world to trial a UBI in March. City Hall is now in consultation with central government and local authorities on a pilot.

The step is good news for the growing grassroots campaign behind UBI. Universal Basic Income Lab Network is made up of local decentralised groups across the world as the pandemic broke out in March last year they had seven labs. Now they have 38 across the globe including 32 in the UK.

Writing in The Big Issues future of work special edition magazine, UBI Lab Networks Sam Gregory explained why a universal basic income is an idea whose time has come.

As a result of the pandemic, millions more people know what its like to be one payday away from poverty, he wrote. Families on good salaries, as well as the self-employed, have learnt how threadbare our social security system is.

Universal basic income is an unconditional and regular cash payment to everybody regardless of income, wealth or work.

It would create a safety floor that nobody could fall below, whether you lose work or have to escape an abusive relationship.

Most proposals in the UK range between 50 and 150 a week for adults, and 30 to 80 a week for children. The highest earners would receive a UBI (like they use the NHS), but would also pay more in tax to fund a basic income for everybody.

If set above the poverty line, a UBI could drastically reduce homelessness and end rough sleeping altogether. In 2009, a London charity gave 13 men whod slept rough for 40 years a UBI of 3,000. A year later, each of them had spent just 800 on average and seven of them had a roof over their heads.

The gross cost of a UBI the amount each person would receive multiplied by the population is substantial.

But thats before factoring in the money coming back from higher taxes on the wealthy. Modelling has shown that a UBI set high enough to end absolute poverty would have a net cost of just 67bn a year. Thats less than what poverty itself costs the UK taxpayer, which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates to be 78bn a year.

At the UBI Lab Network, we want to pilot basic income to see how it would work in practice. Would it improve our health? What effect would it have on employment and financial security? How would giving everybody more cash to spend transform our communities? We can only answer these questions by trying it out ideally in cities, towns and rural areas across all four nations of the UK.

As we rebuild from the pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to tackle inequality and end poverty for good.

Politicians from every party in the country are now backing pilots.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, we created the National Health Service to guarantee health security to everybody.

A universal basic income could be our generations NHS.

To join or start a UBI Lab where you are, visit ubilabnetwork.org

Excerpt from:

Is a universal basic income coming to Wales? Campaigners say now is the time - Big Issue

THE PANDEMIC HAS taught us to love and value the things we miss so much even more. Since the doors closed on arts and culture events a year ago, the government has moved to provide those creative communities with a lifeline, with supports as well as paths to performances and their audiences.

As the minister overseeing these sectors, and as a former music teacher and singer, I am acutely aware of the need for robust supports to help the arts succeed and survive through this recovery.

But music, art and creative talent does not exist on thin air. Our artists are professionals with livelihoods to maintain and unfortunately, during this year-long pandemic, have suffered more than most sectors due to restrictions on gatherings, events and entertainment.

At a broad level, the Government has responded with many unprecedented measures.

Considerable additional support was secured last year, including a 5m Live Performance Support Scheme that gave thousands of days of work to hundreds of musicians, actors, crew and technicians when no other opportunities were available.

Significant funding was announced in Budget 2021, with 130 million for the Arts Council and 50 million more for enhanced live performance support. Moreover, tens of millions of euro has helped those impacted in culture and events through various wage subsidy schemes.

The Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce which I set up to look at solutions published a report last November in which it recommended a Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot targeted at the arts.

Their report, A Life Worth Living, outlines a mechanism for a basic income pilot for the sector, that would be a scalable initiative and envisioned to last a period of three years, in order to allow for a detailed examination of the impact.

A trial for Universal Basic Income

In addition, there is an existing commitment in the Programme for Government to initiate a trial UBI within the lifetime of this coalition government. That commitment will be informed by a review of other international models.

That guarantee was secured by the Green Party during coalition negotiations last year, which I personally oversaw as deputy leader. UBI has also been a core policy of the Green Party for many years.

So what is the rationale for introducing this measure for the arts sector and how could it work?

Many creative practitioners and allied workers in the sectors are freelance, moving frequently between self-employment, PAYE employment and periods of no work at all. In its 2018 survey, Theatre Forum reported that 30% of artists and creative practitioners in the performing arts earned less than the National Minimum Wage. The pattern of insecure and low-paid work is exacerbated by uncertainties arising from the necessary health restrictions which have put a straight-jacket around the industry.

A basic income for the arts would help mitigate the existential threat to this sector, minimising loss of skills and contribute to its gradual regrowth, with follow-on economic benefits. UBI is proven to encourage entrepreneurship and enhanced creativity as recipients arent forced to engage in alternative work to cover basic living costs.

A basic income support is an unconditional state payment that each citizen receives. The arts taskforce recommended that this pilot basic scheme would be in lieu of alternative primary welfare payments for those who work in the arts. Recipients could also take on creative work and earn additional taxable income on top of it.

Why should the arts sector get this support?

I believe the arts sector represents an appropriate area for such a pilot scheme for many reasons. It is characterised by low, precarious and often seasonal income; artistic and creative work is also intrinsically valuable to society; it includes a broad mix of employment types and it has also been chosen for UBI pilots in other jurisdictions.

UBI pilots have been trialled in Finland, Germany and Canada. Since 1936 France has acknowledged that working in the arts can be precarious and subject to long, fallow periods, by supporting its artists through Lintermittent du spectacle. This is a scheme where artists who work up to 507 hours over a 12-month period can sign up for specific unemployment assistance that is paid to them when they are in between projects.

A universal basic income is supported by Social Justice Ireland and other political parties. And while previous governments have mulled over this provision, support for such a scheme has grown during the pandemic because of the devastating nature of restrictions on the creative sector. The Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht has also expressed its support for such a scheme.

I have spoken to Oireachtas colleagues about the need to see enthusiasm across the three-party coalition government for a basic income for artists.

My role is to advocate for it strongly. That is what I am doing. And the arts community are aware of that. Moreover, my message to Oireachtas colleagues in support of this measure has been that they are very much pushing an open door with me when it comes to the introduction of UBI in Ireland.

But action on this will not come solely from my Department. Like many financial supports before and during the pandemic, a wider cohort in government must assess the strengths and weaknesses of any such scheme.

Artwork IS work

Furthermore, the Programme for Government states that this will ultimately be a matter for consideration by the Low Pay Commission that artwork is indeed work. And for tens of thousands of people in this country. And in various forms.

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French painter Henri Matisse once commented that creativity takes courage. How right he was.

And during a pandemic, challenges in creating should be appreciated and supported even more. The Government has strived to do this and is committed to helping this sector recover.

We cant lose our artists, musicians and creators. Im determined to see them flourish. I will continue to talk to my colleagues about the benefits of a basic income system for artists and creators.

In the meantime, the government will continue to ensure arts, culture and entertainment workers are supported during this crisis in order to sustain Irelands treasured creativity community for generations to come.

Catherine Martin is Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

SUSPENDED ANIMATION Project

Through Noteworthy, we want to look at a new landscape for all types of creatives after the pandemic; the supports they need, the value we put on art as a society and stories from artists themselves.

Heres how to support this proposal>

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Minister Martin: We can protect our artists by covering their basic living costs - thejournal.ie

Amid growing competition from Twitter Spaces and other newcomers, popular social audio startup Clubhouse is making a move aimed at seeding its network with more high-quality content: Its launching an accelerator program. During its weekly town hall event on Sunday, the company detailed its plans for its inaugural accelerator called Clubhouse Creator First, which will initially help around 20 creators get their shows off the ground. To do so, Clubhouse said it will provide creators with anything they need to get started whether thats equipment like an iPhone, AirPods or an iRig, promotional support or help with booking guests, or even a babysitter. Most importantly, Clubhouse is promising the participating creators an income of some sort.

During the town hall, Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison explained that a core part of the accelerator experience will be to help creators get paid for their work. In order to make this happen, Clubhouse will match the creator with a brand sponsor, he said something the company believes will be possible because brands are already reaching out to Clubhouse, looking for opportunities to get involved.

In the case that Clubhouse cant find a brand sponsor for a particular show, the company will just guarantee a basic income of $5,000 per month during the three months the creator is participating in the program.

Presumably, this cushion could help people transition from other projects to focus on their Clubhouse show instead, while also giving them time to grow their audience and form the brand relationships that could sustain their shows longer term.

Clubhouse will also play a hands-on role in helping to develop the shows from the accelerators participants, we understand.

Already, the Andreessen Horowitz-backed social audio app has aided in the success of one of its more popular tech programs, The Good Time Show, co-hosted by the VC firms latest general partner, Sriram Krishnan. His program has regularly featured guests and co-hosts either investing with the firm or connected to it somehow, and has been responsible for some of Clubhouses biggest celeb guests like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, for example.

That formula could be repeatable, it seems. As Davison noted during the town hall, the company will work on matching creators with guests for their shows. In other words, its helping produce.

Davison also said Clubhouse will offer directed feedback to the accelerators participants, including its opinion on what works and what doesnt, and other deep dive concept development. When the creators shows are ready to launch, Clubhouse will then connect them with creative services to help design promotional materials to market the shows outside of the social app. It may even give the creators invites they can dole out to potential listeners to help them build up the shows initial audience, if need be.

Of course, Clubhouse has been doing some of this kind of work behind the scenes before today, but the accelerator both formalizes the arrangement and devotes dedicated resources to a larger handful of promising creators.

But it also puts Clubhouse in a potentially precarious position with regard to its still underdeveloped moderation practices.

Brands are typically hesitant to associate themselves with problematic or toxic content and will pull out of creator deals and relationships if they find that to be the case. In the past, content moderation failures have led to advertisers exodus from top social platforms like the YouTube brand freeze a few years ago over obscene comments, which necessitated a cleanup of the videos allowed on the YouTube ad network. And last year, Facebook faced its largest corporate boycott to datewhen brands protested the companys failures to properly prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation on its platform.

Though small by comparison the app now has 12 million global downloads, App Annie says Clubhouse has already been called out for allowing misogyny, anti-Semitism and COVID-19 misinformation on the platform, despite rules against prohibiting this content. Its also allowed for verbal abuse, with some users still being name-called or harassed in Clubhouse rooms. (Weve heard these stories from users directly but will not name names without permission.).

More recently, theres been growing concern about scam artists taking over Clubhouse and the lack of accountability for whats being said. Many so-called experts are happy to go on the app to dole out advice, but when they wade into territory like mental health, they can spread harmful misinformation that can really hurt people.

All these things could potentially catch up to Clubhouse in a big way in the months to come, if the company cant figure out a better moderation strategy to weed out the bad actors and keep the platform brand-safe.

Starting today, the company is allowing interested creators to apply for Clubhouse Creator First. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2021.

The new accelerator program was one of several town hall announcements on Sunday.

The company also announced it has hired Netflix, OWN and Harpo Productions alum Maya Watson as its new head of global marketing, and it detailed several new product updates.

Among those, users will now be able to invite people to the app by phone number alone, instead of having to upload their entire address book. It also now allows users to share links that point to their user profile or Club page and will now better remember a users language preferences when displaying its list of rooms, among other things.

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Clubhouse promises its accelerator participants either brand deals or $5K per month during the program - TechCrunch

JUST 25 per cent of care leavers in Scotland are known to be in work, education or training. And adults with care-experience are one and a half times more likely to have financial difficulties.

In a society that believes young people leaving care have a right to compassion and love, how can we accept a system that locks too many of them into a lifetime of poverty?

At Staf, Scotlands membership organisation for all those involved in the lives of young people leaving care, we believe we need to explore the systemic changes needed to unlock this cycle of poverty.

We need solutions that dont place the heaviest burden on those on the frontline, those battling to provide the best support to young people in stretched and under-resourced local services. And whether it is a Universal Basic Income or a Minimum Income Guarantee, as recommended by the Social Renewal Advisory Board, the goal should be the same to ensure no care leaver lives in poverty.

During the first lockdown care leavers told us they were concerned about being able to get to food banks not to get to supermarkets but to food banks. Care-experienced students have been unable to pick up work over the summer and were having to turn to hardship support to get by. As our world moved online, digital poverty has been exposed like never before. And we face a looming mental health crisis after months of isolation.

Thats why over the past few months Staf, in partnership with Aberlour and RSA Scotland, has begun a conversation with care leavers about financial support and the potential of Universal Basic Income.

We heard how the current system of support is complex and confusing, with too many hoops that young people must jump through before receiving their entitlements. One young person told us:

Its shocking that as a young person who has went through the state care system thats meant to help, love and support you Im not getting the support that I need, or Im entitled to? Theres too many hoops, too many hoops.

A Basic Income, guaranteeing a minimum income and paid without conditions, could be a neat solution to the issues care leavers face. But to determine the next steps we need to co-design a pilot with young people themselves. So over the next few months Staf will bring together experts and senior leaders to discuss how we can scope out a pilot scheme.

Crucially, we need to start with a commitment from the First Minister down that no young person leaving care will be allowed to fall into poverty.

Through this work we hope not only to determine whether Basic Income, or indeed a Minimum Income Guarantee, is the key to unlocking care leaver poverty but also to explore the potential to design a better society for all.

Scotlands Care Review challenged us all to reshape our care system but it is clear that we will only realise its aims for young people if we shape our society too. Lets get on with it.

Jo Derrick is CEO of care leaver charity Staf

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Agenda: Is Universal Basic Income the key to tackling care leaver poverty? - HeraldScotland

The Irish pilot of a universal basic income for artists (Editorial, 7 February) is partially the equivalent of Frances support for performing artists. There, dancers, musicians, designers and technicians who are working on a production receive unemployment support. This was introduced in 1936 as the rgime salari intermittent employeurs multiples (system for intermittently salaried workers with multiple employers) to support technicians in the film industry. This created the right to publicly funded unemployment benefits for each day that they were not in work. Recipients have to have done a minimum of 507 hours of paid work during a one-year period.

I understand that this applies more broadly across the arts in France, and a similar system exists in Belgium. In December 2020, the UK trade union Equity called on the government to introduce a basic income guarantee for creative workers in the performing arts. This would provide them with financial stability during the pandemic and ensure that they are free to take work when it arises without fear of losing other forms of support. We should not ignore one of the UKs most successful assets in the way the government seems to be doing.David CockayneLymm, Cheshire

Heres my big idea for an arts policy that your excellent editorial called for: use a windfall tax on pandemic-fuelled profits made by online gambling and video-streaming services to support a new deal of the soul. This would pay organisations to commission art for, with and by children and young people that deserves a wider audience. Ensure that freelancers are paid to be at the heart of this, and go beyond schools to find those young people most at risk of continued social isolation and dislocation.Joe HallgartenLondon

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Get creative to help artists through pandemic - The Guardian

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia in March 2020, the Morrison government took bold and imaginative action.

The most notable examples were its income support programs JobKeeper, paying a A$750 weekly subsidy to employers to keep workers on the payroll, and JobSeeker, which doubled unemployment benefits relative to the Newstart allowance, frozen in real terms for nearly 30 years.

These measures were announced as temporary. The government has already begun winding them back as the economy recovers from the worst impacts of the pandemic. On January 1 the JobSeeker supplement (being paid to about 1.3 million Australians) was cut from A$250 to A$150 a fortnight. It will cease in March.

There are good reasons to phase out JobKeeper. It was designed specifically to assist businesses forced to scale back their activities due to COVID-19 and the restrictions introduced to control it. Eligibility is, therefore, tied to the impact of the lockdowns that took place nationally in the first half of 2020, and again in Victoria from August to October.

With those emergency times behind us, many businesses have returned to something like business as usual, while some have closed for good. Others have been brave enough to start new businesses. JobKeeper isnt relevant to any of these.

It has been partially replaced by JobMaker, a wage subsidy for employers intended to encourage the employment of younger workers, which is scheduled to be wound back in March and completely phased out by October.

Read more: In defence of JobMaker, the replacement for JobKeeper: not perfect, but much to like

The success of JobKeeper might lead to more consideration to temporary wage subsidies in response to future economic crises, perhaps along the lines of Germanys Kurzarbeit scheme, which will run at least to the end of the year. But designing such a scheme would take a lot of time. Winding down JobKeeper in the meantime makes sense.

The situation is very different with JobSeeker.

The inadequacy of the Newstart payment was widely recognised long before the pandemic. Organisations as disparate as the Australian Council of Social Service, the Business Council of Australia and the OECD have endorsed an increase. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has said raising Newstart said would do more for the economy than cutting taxes for high income earners.

The system of unemployment benefits in place before JobSeeker worked on the assumption there were jobs aplenty for anyone willing and able. Unemployment was seen as reflecting personal defects or, more charitably, a lack of particular skills needed for job readiness.

This assumption was clearly untrue even before the pandemic. As the long history of booms, busts and economic crises have shown us, all workers are vulnerable (some more than others) to losing their job through no fault of their own. The pandemic has reinforced that lesson.

The failure of Australias labour market to provide full employment is evident from high and increasing levels of underemployment, particularly among young people. Even before the the pandemic an unacceptably high proportion of workers struggled with stringing together part-time gigs.

Returning to the poverty levels of the former Newstart allowance as Jobkeeper winds down is a terrible option. We should restore parity between unemployment benefits and other social security benefits such as the age pension.

Until the 1990s these benefits were roughly equal in value. Since then the age pension and similar benefits have been increased in line with average earnings. Unemployment benefits, however, have been frozen in real terms since 1994.

Compounding the increasing financial hardship, life for the unemployed has been made harder by the steady intensification of compliance and reporting requirements.

While the controversial robodebt scheme in which many welfare recipients were hounded to repay money they did not owe has been abandoned, more fundamental change is needed.

Read more: Robodebt was a policy fiasco with a human cost we have yet to fully appreciate

In an economy that cannot provide full-time work for everyone who wants it, we need to take a broader view of the way people can contribute.

To respond to the post-pandemic era, we should adopt the concept of a Liveable Income Guarantee (LIG).

The LIG is closely linked to the participation income proposed by British economist Anthony Atkinson. It starts from the principle that everyone has a right to a liveable income and the opportunity to contribute to society. Its similar to a universal basic income but requires recipients to participate in socially useful activities.

The narrow measure of formal employment largely obscures the fact that many people without paid work productively contribute to society in other ways.

Unpaid work of parents, carers and volunteers has been estimated as equal to almost half of Australias GDP.

While the contributions of carers has been partly recognised through the Carers Payment, other forms of unpaid work have not.

Read more: Meet the Liveable Income Guarantee: a budget-ready proposal that would prevent unemployment benefits falling off a cliff

What other contributions might be acknowledged under the LIG? There are many possibilities, most of which have some precedent but have not been considered as part of a comprehensive program of social participation, including volunteering, ecological care projects and artistic and creative activity.

As the year of JobSeeker and JobKeeper draws to a close, its time for the Morrison government to show some of the same boldness and imagination it had a year ago.

The rest is here:

The economy can't guarantee a job. It can guarantee a liveable income for other work - The Conversation AU