Basic Income UK

Does the government know how to spend your money better than you do?

Today marks the final day of the 19th International Basic Income Week.

From 14–20 September, people and organisations around the world have been sharing information, organising activities and creating conversations around Basic Income.

The 2026 international motto is:

“Basic Income: Secure Lives, Fearless Voices, True Democracy.”

The campaign has also encouraged people to take part through the photo action and the International Basic Income B**r, bringing Basic Income supporters and groups together around the world.

But the conversation does not have to end today.

Te Utu Tika Hei Oranga i Aotearoa – Basic Income New Zealand will continue sharing information and resources about Basic Income in the New Zealand context.

Learn more and stay connected:
https://basicincomenz.net/

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Andrew Griffith MP says “the only winners are on Benefits Street”.

That framing is the problem.

Millions of people receiving Universal Credit are in work. Many others are disabled, ill, caring for someone, between jobs or facing housing costs that wages simply do not cover.

The issue is not that support is “too easy”. It is that work, housing and social security leave too many people insecure.

Pitting “hard-working people” against “people on benefits” is politically convenient, but it is economically dishonest. Very often, they are the same people.

A Universal Basic Income would end that deserving/undeserving divide. Everyone gets the same unconditional floor. People still work, earn wages and pay tax — but nobody falls below a basic level of security simply because their hours are cut, their job disappears, they become ill or they need to care for someone.

And if we genuinely want to support small businesses and the self-employed, UBI helps there too: it gives people more security to start a business, survive volatile income and keep spending in their local economy.

The answer is not to make struggling people poorer.

It is to build an economy where work pays, essential costs are lower, public services are strong and everyone has a secure income floor.

That is the case for UBI.

What exactly is a Basic Income?

A Basic Income is a regular cash payment provided to people individually, without a means test or work requirement.

The idea is to establish a basic income floor while allowing people to continue working, studying, caring for family, volunteering, starting businesses or pursuing other opportunities.

For Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Utu Tika Hei Oranga i Aotearoa – Basic Income New Zealand (BINZ) focuses on practical ways of introducing and financing a Basic Income. BINZ supports a meaningful but feasible Basic Income, combined with an appropriate tax system.

As International Basic Income Week continues, take a moment to learn what Basic Income actually means and why it is being discussed around the world.

Learn more:
https://basicincomenz.net/

Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s new report is a powerful reminder that poverty doesn’t just make childhood harder — it can shape the whole course of a young person’s life.

The research finds that 6 in 10 young people who are not in education, employment or training at age 23 experienced poverty growing up, and that persistent poverty more than triples the risk of being out of education and work in young adulthood.

The report is especially important because it rejects the idea that young people simply lack motivation or resilience. Instead, it shows how growing up without enough money affects concentration, school attendance, mental health, relationships, confidence and the ability to plan for the future. These pressures build on one another over time.

And when young people do fall out of education or work, the safety net is often too weak to help them move forward. Benefits may keep people afloat, but JRF found many still cannot afford basics such as food, transport, training, childcare or equipment. As the report puts it, there is too often “no springboard to go with the safety net.”

One line stands out:

“Financial security is a prerequisite for young people to engage with education, employment or training.”

That is why income security matters.

A Basic Income would not solve every barrier young people face. Good jobs, affordable transport, childcare, education, mental-health support and strong public services all matter too.

But a secure, unconditional income floor would give people something the current system too often does not: stability, breathing space and the ability to plan ahead.

Poverty narrows life chances. Security expands them.

Falling through the cracks: how childhood hardship shapes life chances What is too often seen as individual failure is the result of conditions and systems failing to respond. With a strong safety net, not one weakened by cuts, young people can reach their potential.

AI is changing the relationship between work, income and economic security.

An interesting piece from Arab News looks at the growing debate around guaranteed incomes as automation and AI reshape labour markets. It highlights potential benefits including reducing poverty, giving people greater freedom from wage dependence, supporting care and entrepreneurship, and simplifying welfare systems. It also raises the familiar questions around funding, inflation and work incentives.

For us, the key point is that UBI should not stand alone. As technology raises productivity, those gains need to be shared more widely.

That means an economic security architecture built around:

UBI for a universal income floor
UBS to protect essentials such as health, housing, education, transport and care
A Green New Deal to drive jobs, skills, infrastructure and a just transition
Strong unions and labour rights so workers share in productivity gains rather than simply carrying the risks of automation

AI should mean greater security, freedom and prosperity for everyone — not greater insecurity for workers while the gains flow upwards.

Has the time come for guaranteed incomes? Has the time come for guaranteed incomes?

Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2) is a useful example of why guaranteed-income evidence needs to be read carefully, not just celebrated or dismissed.

From January 2024 to December 2025, 100 low-income entrepreneurs and gig workers in Ann Arbor, Michigan received $528 a month, while another 100 eligible applicants formed a randomised control group.

The Year 1 findings were mixed.

Recipients said the payments gave them relief, reduced stress and more financial breathing room. Some said the extra cash helped their entrepreneurial activity and made it easier to provide things for their children.

But the study found no statistically significant differences between the payment and control groups in food, housing or utility security.

That does not mean the payments had no value. It means different outcomes moved in different ways — and that is exactly why good pilot evidence matters.

GIG A2 is also not UBI. It was a targeted, time-limited guaranteed-income trial focused on low-income entrepreneurs and gig workers.

The final evaluation is due later in 2026, so the overall verdict is still provisional.

What happens when families receive guaranteed income with no strings attached? The University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions is evaluating Ann Arbor’s Guaranteed Income Pilot, studying its effects on financial stability, employment, health and well-being. https://zurl.co/O2bB6

Scotland is taking another important step towards testing what income security can do.

The Scottish Government has now committed to pilot a Scottish Artists Minimum Income by the end of this Parliament.

This is not a universal basic income — it is a targeted scheme for artists — but it matters because it will test some of the same core questions: what happens when people have a more secure income floor, less financial uncertainty and greater freedom to plan their lives and work?

The Scottish Government says the pilot is being developed alongside wider investment in culture, including an additional £100 million a year by 2028–29. The Programme for Government states plainly: “We will also pilot a Scottish Artists Minimum Income.”

Scotland is also looking to Ireland, where a Basic Income for the Arts scheme has already provided a major real-world test of regular, unconditional income support for creative workers.

That is why pilots like this matter. They don’t prove the case for a national UBI on their own, but they help build the evidence on income security, wellbeing, work, creativity and freedom.

Test it. Measure it. Learn from it. Build the evidence.
https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/scottish-government-confirms-basic-income-for-artists-pilot-amid-100m-culture-boost
Basic Income Network Scotland

Scottish government confirms basic income for artists pilot amid £100m culture boost - Arts Professional Scottish First Minister John Swinney has confirmed his commitment to deliver an additional £100 million annually for culture by 2028/29, and to pilot a basic

What happens when pandemic cash assistance ends? Guaranteed income advocates are now pushing to turn cash-assistance pilots into permanent public policy, showing how Governments can use existing budgets to provide direct cash during major life transitions. https://zurl.co/q9epO

RIP Dolly Parton.

Dolly Parton understood something at the heart of basic income: trust. After the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfires, her My People Fund gave affected families $1,000 a month for six months, with no conditions on how they spent it. Scott Santens article pays tribute https://zurl.co/Vh6YJ