Senedd debate on a Universal Basic Income
Original image by Nick Fewings
Today, I will lead a debate in the Senedd on a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for Wales. When I tabled the motion, I received an incredible amount of positive responses both on social media and via email. So many people took the time to email me, to show support and to ask questions, they genuinely wanted to know more about a UBI.
Why is this? The idea of a Universal Basic Income is not a new one. None of the political parties looking to claim it as their own can claim ownership of the idea. I think it is because there is an increasing recognition that even before the COVID crisis, our economy was failing to provide the opportunities and the jobs that met people's ambitions and basic needs. An increasingly casualised labour market and growing numbers of working poor present some obvious significant challenges in the near future. People want change, after 40 years wages have stagnated and quite rightly people are starting to look at the current economic settlement and ask, whose interests is our economy serving?
Even before COVID, the challenge of automation and resulting loss of jobs, was on the radar of policy makers across the globe. We have a model of how this works in certain sector, manufacturing jobs across advanced economies have been disappearing for some time. The common understanding that they are moving to the developing world is far from the full picture, many of them have been lost to automation, less people are producing significantly more manufactured goods. Living standards in communities like mine were hit hard when manufacturing jobs were lost. The next wave of automation will hit every sector of our economy, we must have a realistic plan to protect living standards. Let me be clear, I am not against automation and I want to embrace the benefits of how it will make life easier, we cannot swim against this tide but have to make it work for us.
The second challenge we face is climate change, if we are to avoid mass extinction, we are going to have to change the way we do things. We cannot allow the burden of this change to mean that some people are unable to fully participate in our economy and be the customers that businesses need them to be. As I write this the chancellor is on his feet talking about a significant rebalancing of our economy due to COVID, how do we ensure that this the economy is rebalanced in a fair way. Knowing that this process could stretch out over years.
Put simply, if we want a flourishing market economy, how do we ensure the changes our country will have to face do not exclude millions from that market. As well as ensuring people have the space to re-equip themselves to succeed in this new economy.
A UBI helps to give us the room we need to adapt to these changes, while protecting living standards. It also does far more than that. The evidence from trials elsewhere is that it encourages economic activity, it helps people to become more productive. A UBI could also help us re-engage with our communities, become more active participants and make a real difference to the lives of each other.
A UBI could also help address the extreme poverty that has become so common in the UK; homelessness and food poverty are endemic. One of the features of our current model is the huge growth in poor mental health that has accompanied our uncertain economy. This often-hidden time bomb is something I have personal painful experience of, increasing levels of anxiety and depression are and will increasingly be a huge break on our economy. The increased certainty a UBI could bring to people's lives could make a huge difference. Many of you will know that I am an ambassador for the White Ribbon Campaign, the empowering effect a UBI could have on individuals' finances, could mean everything to those seeking to leave abuse.
Original image by Wojtek Gurak
As I said at the start none of us own this idea, but I would like to thank those Members of the Senedd in Wales that have championed it, including my good friend Mick Antoniw.
We have a unique opportunity to focus the Senedd on a UBI. I want the debate to reach far beyond Cardiff Bay to communities like Connah’s Quay and Buckley, Swansea and Neath and everywhere in-between.
Member Debate: Standing order 11.21(iv) - Universal Basic Income
Wed 30th September 2020, 16:27hrs
More about the author
Jack Sargeant MS - @JackSargeantAM
Connah's Quay, Wales
Jack is the youngest member of the Senedd and represents Alyn and Deeside. He is one of the few politicians who has recently worked in industry. Jack was a Research and Development Engineer having previously worked as a Change and Innovation Specialist.