Designing basic income pilots for community development: what are the key community concerns? Evidence from citizen engagement in Northern England

Neil Howard, Grace Gregory, Elliott A. Johnson, Cleopatra Goodman, Jonathan Coates, Ian Robson, Kate Pickett, Matthew T. Johnson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Policymakers worldwide are realising that traditional welfare systems need modernisation. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with economic, ecological, and social crises intensifying, these systems are being exposed as inefficient, ineffective, and unjust. Policymakers have therefore begun exploring Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a potential alternative. This is leading to rising interest in basic income trials, with pilots proposed or in the pipeline in many countries, including Scotland and Wales. However, pilots are often designed without meaningful community participation, which raises significant ethical and practical concerns. Through a series of qualitative workshops in Jarrow, one of the more deprived areas in the UK and an archetypal target for ‘Levelling Up’ policy, we explored and categorized local concerns, hopes, and suggestions for piloting basic income in the area. This article presents those findings and thereby builds the knowledge base around community perspectives on local basic income pilots
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages17
JournalLocal Development & Society
Early online date11 Oct 2023
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 11 Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding:
The work was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research [NIHR154451]; UK Prevention Research Partnership [MR/S037527/1].

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