Money for nothing, Universal Basic Income, (UBI) is to be trialled in England for the first time.
Under a pilot scheme, 30 people irrespective of their employment status will be selected to receive £1,600 per month for two years. As this is means tested and not tied to any work, researchers will explore what difference it makes to their lives.
Participants will be pulled from central Jarrow in north-east England and East Finchley, in north London. Critics of this ‘money for nothing scheme’ say it would be extremely costly, would cause a cut in regular funding of public services and would not necessarily help to alleviate poverty.
Researchers from think tank Autonomy backing this two-year pilot say it hopes its proposed pilot will “make the case for a national basic income and more comprehensive trials to fully understand the potential of a basic income in the U.K.”.
“No one should ever be facing poverty, having to choose between heating and eating, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world,”said Cleo Goodman, Co-founder of Basic Income Conversation, a programme run by the work-focused think tank.
There was a mixed reactions on social media with a lot of people wondering if this scheme will be potentially paid for by the taxpayers.
