THE SOCIAL DEBATE

Opinion: Don’t ‘Means Test’ the Child Tax Credit
“Means tests” restrict the availability of public assistance based on income, by making people “prove” they’re poor enough to

Opinion: The government would rather people starve or be homeless than create new money
By: Richard Murphy See original post here. The problem for the government in the developing economic crisis is it

States that cut their pandemic unemployment checks early saw virtually no impact on hiring.
There is strong evidence suggesting that stopping the checks basically caused nothing but avoidable harm according to a new

A land value dividend deserves far more attention
In 2020 and 2021, government spending rose by almost £400 billion, covering policies from furlough to free school meals. This

60+ Behavioral Scientists Urge U.S. Congress to Extend Child Tax Credit
See original post here. The attached letter, signed by over 60 behavioral scientists from institutions around the country, was

IMF says governments must protect the vulnerable with direct cash ‘when things fall apart’, avert unrest
By: Andrea Shalal. See original post here. Governments must target fiscal support to vulnerable populations hit hardest by rising

Why did the US voluntarily choose to increase child poverty by 41%?
Joe Manchin dealt the final blow to the Child Tax Credit. But the reasons it lapsed are deeper than

Advocates Say California Should Send $2,000 Per Child To Low-Income Families
By: Jeanne Kuang | CalMatters See original post here. As Gov. Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers contemplate how to deliver the

Human Rights Watch: Targeted Safety Net Programs Don’t Protect Human Rights Sufficiently – Universality is Necessary
See original post here. Targeted social protection programs intended to cushion people from the economic impacts of the Covid-19

Here’s what consumers plan to cut back on if prices continue to surge
By: Carmen Reinicke See original post here. As inflation continues to weigh on American households, people are plotting what

New food insecurity stipend should help as many troops as possible, lawmakers argue
By: Leo Shane III Original post can be found here. House leaders are pushing military leaders to make eligibility and enrollment

Study Finds Employment Declined for Parents After Ending Monthly CTC Payments
See original post here. Households who received the monthly Child Tax Credit in 2021 experienced a dramatic decline in

The Evolution of Ukraine’s Income Support Program
by: Peter Knight Original post can be found here. This article is based on a post by Scott Santens, and quotes

Senators in Canada overwhelmed by emails, calls pushing conspiracy theories about basic income legislation
Red Chamber grappling with a flood of messages claiming basic income is a plot by a shadowy global elite

Congress Found An Easy Way To Fix Child Poverty. Then It Walked Away.
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux See original post here. Imagine the federal government could lift millions of American children out of poverty

Senator Paula Simons in Canada responds to the disinformation surrounding Bill S-233 for a basic income framework
Senator Simons who was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2018, after a long and distinguished career as

People no longer believe working hard will lead to a better life, survey shows
A growing sense of inequality is undermining trust in both society’s institutions and capitalism, according to a long-running global

Report: Michigan families used monthly child tax credits on food, rent, and bills
By: Nushrat Rahman Original Post: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/03/25/michigan-monthly-child-tax-credit/7134132001/ An extra boost in child tax credits relieved financial stress for Michigan families who

Towards a progressive European basic income?
An EU-wide scheme could address progressives’ concerns about proposals for universal basic income. By: DOMINIC AFSCHARIAN, VIKTORIIA MULIAVKA, MARIUS OSTROWSKI LUKÁŠ SIEGEL

Making the enhanced monthly child tax credit permanent would have a 1,000% return on investment, study says
For the second half of 2021, millions of families received monthly child tax credit checks. Implementing a permanent child

58 Percent of Single Parents Earn Less Than $31,000 a Year
Millions of families are scraping by, barely, on half of what they need to keep food on the table

Carbon dividend could eradicate extreme poverty, economists say
Proceeds from tax would be paid out as dividend, incomes for most people overall By: Jon Stone. Original Post:

Australian Greens propose ‘liveable income guarantee’
By: John Quiggin. Original Post: https://theconversation.com/the-greens-liveable-income-guarantee-is-a-serious-idea-the-major-parties-wont-touch-yet-179573 The Australian Greens have lobbed a large rock into the placid pool of

$400 universal tax rebate to afford higher gas prices proposed in California
A group of Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday called for sending a $400 rebate to every California taxpayer to

UNDP Suggests Temporary Basic Income in Ukraine as 90% of Population Faces Poverty
By: Stephanie Nebehay. Original Post: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/ninety-percent-ukrainian-population-could-041213757.html?guccounter=1. Nine out of 10 Ukrainians could face poverty and extreme economic vulnerability if

Opinion: A Year After Biden’s American Rescue Plan, Kids Are Falling Back Into Poverty. Congress Is To Blame.
In December, the child tax credit lifted nearly 4 million children out of poverty. If it had been extended

New Mexico Passes Its Own Child Tax Credit
Residents of New Mexico should expect Child Tax payment to begin again in the next few days. Will other

Britons to get 350 pounds a month to open homes to Ukraine refugees
By: Andrew MacAskill Original Post: https://news.yahoo.com/brits-350-pounds-month-open-001431626.html (Reuters) -Britain will pay people to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the

Pro-UBI Candidate in South Korea Barely Loses Presidential Election
By: Jeong-Ho Lee. Original Post: https://lmtribune.com/world/south-korea-elects-yoon-as-new-president-in-hawkish-turn/article_16d2247b-f400-59f0-a242-d292a1eb3ae3.html Former top prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol won election as South Korea’s president, returning the

One radical idea to solve America’s housing crisis: tax the land
By: Jerusalem Demsas. Original Post: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22951092/land-tax-housing-crisis A six-word phrase keeps popping up on my Twitter feed: “Land value tax would

OPINION: A Basic Income for Ukrainians, Paid for with Frozen Russian Assets
The U.S. and its allies should create a new global fund to deliver cash to the growing flood of

Carbon Cashback: Good For The Planet And The Pocketbook
House Bill 2278 could help accelerate Hawaii’s transition from fossil fuels. By: Noel Morin Original Post: https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/03/carbon-cashback-good-for-the-planet-and-the-pocketbook/ Hawaii’s leaders are