Scott Santens
Editor of Basic Income Today
EDITOR’S PICKS
The Future of Work: A VICE News Special Report
The next Industrial Revolution is upon us, and scientists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers are warning of an imminent paradigm shift in the future of work. In partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations, VICE talks to industry leaders and laborers to learn how radical developments in automation and artificial intelligence are set to change the world of work as we know it. From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, VICE’s Future of Work explores technology’s threat to the
Andrew Yang puts his universal basic income plan to the test
Eleven Nobel Laureates Who Have Endorsed Universal Basic Income
Amazon Is Planning to Open Cashierless Supermarkets Next Year
Income Inequality
Feds urged to consider basic income to help ‘gig’ workers
Article originally published June 11, 2019. OTTAWA — A cross-party committee of MPs says it’s time for the government …
The net worth of the average 18-35-year-old in the US has plunged 34% since 1996 to below $8,000 and only 20% are better off now than in ’07
Article originally published on 05/31/19. The net worth of the average 18- to 35-year-old has plummeted 34 percent since …
OTTAWA — A cross-party committee of MPs says it’s time for the government to take a deeper look at a guaranteed minimum income to help work
Article originally published on June 11, 2019. OTTAWA — A cross-party committee of MPs says it’s time for the …
In the United States, there aren’t enough hours in the week to make rent
Article originally published April 12, 2019. The mayor of Brisbane, a small city squeezed between San Francisco and Silicon …
Pilots & Experiments
The UBI experiments in India show that it positively transforms the lives of women
DEBATE Could basic income play a role in the fight against unfree labour? The Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) …
Basic income is paving a path to freedom in Kenya
Beyond Trafficking and Slavery: Tell us a bit about the basic income trial that Give Directly, your NGO, is …
Workers Strength Fund giving 500 gig workers in four cities $1,000 in no-strings-attached cash
Over the past few years, an increasing number of countries have witnessed a demand for basic income. India too …
Google and GiveDirectly are creating a rapid response team to immediately provide unconditional cash to victims of the next natural disaster
Every natural disaster is different, and how people respond in their aftermath is different, too. For aid groups that …
The Social Debate
Universal Benefits: More Liberal and More Efficient than Employer Benefits
Early liberals focused on dismantling de jure social hierarchies and mercantilist policies, but the onset of the Industrial Revolution …
Gallup survey of 10,000 adults shows three-quarters of the UK and Canada now support UBI and almost half in the US
STORY HIGHLIGHTS 43% of Americans support a universal basic income program 77% of U.K. adults and 75% of Canadians …
Support for UBI in the US has grown from 43% to 49% in the past seven months according to new HarrisX poll
Support for universal basic income (UBI) is on the rise, according to a new Hill-HarrisX poll released on Wednesday. …
Four parties took the stage in Manitoba to debate disability issues and all but one pitched some form of basic income
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives wouldn’t commit to a guaranteed basic income for people living with disabilities like their political opponents …
Social Justice
Universal Basic Income could be a powerful way to recognize and enable civic engagement
“We’re seeing voter turnout decline across developed nations, in some of them really quite rapidly, says Daniel Park, who …
Fifty Years Later, Reflecting on the Defeat of Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan
Guest Editorial by Almaz Zelleke, Associate Professor of Practice in Political Science, NYU Shanghai Fifty years ago, on August …
Opinion: How Unconditional Basic Income Could Benefit the Vegan Movement
Here vegan activist Megan Barker makes the case that the lack of unconditional basic income (UBI) is an obstacle …
Basic Income March planned for September 21, 2019 in New York City
New Yorkers are organizing a march for Basic Income. Everyone who can get there is invited to join. The …
Success Stories
Economic analysis of Canada’s child benefit cash allowance bolsters case for universal basic income
The Canada Child Benefit has not only lifted kids out of poverty, but it has boosted the country’s economy …
Mississippi program providing low-income mothers $1000 a month of basic income demonstrates its potential
JACKSON, Miss. — Cheryl Gray had sat through so many presentations about programs to lift herself out of poverty …
Sherman County, Oregon has used wind power to provide a $590 dividend per household every year since 2002
For a region that’s blessed with bountiful natural resources, the Pacific Northwest has largely missed the boat. We’re not …
A solution for childhood obesity? Universal basic income
First published on May 31, 2019 A new study links an extra $1,000 a year paid through Alaska’s Permanent …
The Basics of UBI
UBI is Social Security for the 21st Century
It’s based on the dividends that accrue to Americans because of their everyday contributions as workers, consumers, caregivers and …
The documentary, ‘UBI, our right to live’, now available online
The film directed by Álvaro Orús and promoted by Pressenza and Humanists for Basic Income, was premiered at the …
Introducing the UBI Calculator Version 1.0
How will universal basic income impact you? Well, the answer to that question depends on the details of the …
Andrew Yang’s Freedom Dividend Is Only A Step Toward Elon Musk’s Basic Income Vision
Andrew Yang has managed to stay in the Texas Hold’em tournament past the first bubble. Unlike other outsiders, he …
Workforce Automation
Research shows that automation trends may be widening the racial wealth gap
Research shows that automation trends may be widening the racial wealth gap. This article reveals possible interventions that may …
Wages are flatlining as technology performs skilled labor, pushing workers into underemployment
Wages are flatlining because companies are scrapping swathes of mid-tier positions – replacing them with algorithms and cheap offshore …
The Rise of Robotic Process Automation: How Daniel Dines Of UiPath Became The First Bot Billionaire
The man who at once epitomizes the hottest new growth area in tech and the burgeoning hopes for entrepreneurship …
As AI gets better at performing the routine tasks traditionally done by humans, only the hardest ones will be left
When machines start picking off all the easy work for themselves, many white-collar jobs are going to get a …