What is a Basic Income?
A Basic Income would ensure all people have enough money to meet the necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, and other resources that facilitate socialengagement, such as access to travel and a means of communication. More detail.
Why do we need a Basic Income?
Many people are living in poverty or are just a step away from poverty. Poverty causes toxic stress which in turn causes social, emotional, and physical harm. People in poverty often experience food insecurity and live in inadequate housing and dangerous environments. The current social assistance system is insufficient, punitive and demoralizing. A Basic Income would drastically reduce poverty and allow people to participate as full citizens in society, with dignity and security.
What can a Basic Income mean for you and your family:
1. Provide you with an adequate income floor
2. Basic income could reduce the amount of risk an individual incurs when they make big decisions, such as starting a business.
3. For people who are laid off from work, a basic income provides a clear safety springboard for them to not only avoid poverty traps, but to spring into new opportunities.
4. The freedom to stay in a job that pays less but is preferred
5. The freedom to start a small scale business venture
6. The freedom to do care work for a relative or a friend
7. The freedom to do creative work or activities of any kind
8. The freedom to go back to school in order to get a better job.
9. The freedom from bureaucratic interference, prying and coercion
10. The freedom to form relationships, or starting a family.
11. The freedom to set up home
12. The freedom to leave a relationship that has turned sour or abusive
13. The freedom to have a child
14. The freedom for recreation time
15. The freedom to refuse a job that is too onerous, boring, low paying, or just nasty.
16. The freedom to accept a job that is none of the above
Is a Basic Income all we need?
Absolutely not! A Basic Income must be part of a comprehensive social safety net.
Is a Basic Income affordable in Canada?
Yes, but Provinces and Territories cannot do it alone. The Parliamentary Budget Office has costed a Basic Income. Studies using this estimate have shown that a Basic Income in Canada can be funded in a revenue neutral way through reallocation of selected federal tax credits, making the system more equitable and transferring benefits to those most in need.
Selected references and resources:
Basic Income Guarantee Nova Scotia (BIG-NS), https://www.facebook.com/basicincomeNS/
Basic Income Canada Network, https://www.basicincomecanada.org/
Forget, E. (2018). Basic Income for Canadians: The key to a healthier, happier, more secure life for all. Toronto, ON: James Lorimer & Co.
Standing, G. (2017). A Basic Income: How we can make it happen. Pelican Books.
Stevens, H., & Simpson, W. (2017) Toward a National Universal Guaranteed Basic Income, Canadian Public Policy, Volume 43, Issue 2,120-139.About