A couple of years ago the B.C. Government established a panel of experts, chaired by UBC Economics Professor David Green, to advise on whether this was a good idea. Their report and its many supporting research papers can be found here: https://bcbasicincomepanel.ca. Though I’ve not read the report, a quick scan of the table of contents and of the list of its accompanying research papers suggest that it can be profitably used by all governments.
Today the IRPP (www.irpp.org) hosted a webinar at which two of the Panel’s members (Prof. Green and Prof. Lindsay Tedds of the University of Calgary) and an analyst from the Maytree Foundation ( a foundation dedicated to analysis of poverty and related government support programs) discussed the analysis underlying the report. There are more webinars to come that presumably will continue the discussion of the Panel’s analysis, findings and recommendations (they did not recommend that a universal basic income be established!).
A number of the analytical findings/takeaways are interesting and provocative:
- 30% of single working age childless adults have income below the poverty line. The percentage of this group below the poverty line is substantially higher than that of other demographic groups, the elderly and families with children for example.
- Annual income paid to welfare recipients is approximately 40% of poverty line income.
- Rents have increased to such an extent in recent years that they are now well above social assistance incomes.
- The percent of the labour force engaged in ‘precarious’ work has not increased in recent years. What has changed is the unionized percentage of the labour force and employer behaviour, e.g. shifting workers from being ’employees’ to ‘independent contractors’.
- The smorgasbord of government income assistance programs (federal and provincial) is very large and some require applications to be made on line – a daunting challenge for potential claimants to navigate!
Judging by today’s webinar, future sessions will be well worth watching.