cover image: OPTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING a Universal Basic Income Guarantee

20.500.12592/nwk79q

OPTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING a Universal Basic Income Guarantee

12 Oct 2021

• The context of high levels of poverty and highly dynamic incomes found in low- to middle-income countries compounds this because: • The targeted group is in constant flux, • And a large proportion of the population that are excluded would genuinely benefit from being recipients. [...] • The Review proposes a “Jobseekers Grant” which would be: • Set at R350 p/m • Be limited to 3,8 million of the unemployed (a 1/3 of the current eligible beneficiaries) • Cost around R16 billion per year (a fraction of the current SRD grant) • The proposal is that only the unemployed who are ‘actively seeking work’ would qualify for the grant (excluding the remaining 8 million unemployed). [...] We have 6 months to finalise a path towards a BIG! • There needs to be public discussion on paths towards a BIG including- extension and improvement of the SRD grant beyond March 2022 to at least the Food Poverty Line; and finalisation of the debate around a targeted or universal adult grant; or a targeted grant as a stepping stone towards a universal grant; & timeframes to achieve this over the n. [...] • The design, financing and implementation of a UBIG, as part of a comprehensive response to the crisis, can only take place in the context of this reimagined economic policy framework. [...] • Considering the context of South Africa: • Highest inequality rates in the world • Structural unemployment (unemployment rate of 34.4% [44.4% by broad definition]) • Job creation, while critically important, cannot answer the scale and urgency of SA’s crisis • In this context, the historic exclusion of majority able-bodied working age persons from the social grants system is inexcusable and unte.

Authors

NEIL COLEMAN

Pages
49
Published in
South Africa