Guest Blog | BIG LEAP: Los Angeles Basic Income Pilot

"Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot," or in short, BIG: LEAP, is officially in effect last week on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.  Our guest Paloma Henriques explains the program design, research plans, and its significance.  *…

Psychologists Help Better Understand Current UBI Debate

Interview with Joachim Hüffmeier, Professor in Industrial/Organizational Psychology Soomi Lee It should be no surprise that opinions toward UBI differ considerably. We each have our own assumptions about the proper relationship between money…

State-Level UBI and Guaranteed Income Initiatives in the U.S.

Peter T. Knight Coordinator, Sufficiency4Sustainability Network As of September 3, 2021, 25 cities and towns in the United States are planning or carrying out guaranteed income pilot programs, and the number is expected to continue increasing…

What would Andrew Yang's Basic Income plan have meant for New Yorkers?

Max Ghenis Andrew Yang's campaign for mayor of New York has concluded, but his centering of basic income in his campaign (for a second time) remains noteworthy. The candidate proposed a "Basic Income for New York" which would spend $1 billion…

Reflections on the basic income movement and the NABIG 2021 Congress

Michael Howard Coordinator, USBIG The movement for a basic income guarantee (BIG) has come a long way since the USBIG Network was founded in 1999 as the US affiliate of BIEN, and the first North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress…

Gaining Ground

This blog post is the US prize-winning essay, by Joshua Z. Miller, in the North American Basic Income Guarantee High School Essay Contest for 2021. Joshua is a high school junior and an intern at the UBI Center. The cash prize was presented…

What's in a Name

Michael A. Lewis Professor Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center As I’ve observed, listened to, or taken part in discussions about basic income (BI), I’ve noticed people use different definitions…

Preview of the North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress, June 17-19, 2021 

Michael Howard Coordinator, USBIG The annual NABIG Congress is less than a month away. The full program will be posted soon. In the meantime, I’m writing to give you a preview of a few of the exciting sessions that will be available. Plenary…

Could UBI Lead to Lower Wages?

Michael Anthony Lewis  Professor Silberman School of Social Work I recently had an exchange about UBI with a statistics professor. This is someone who identifies as politically left, so they aren’t hostile to the government granting income…

UBI is Owed to Us

Michael Anthony Lewis Professor, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center My previous post, entitled “Why UBI,” focused on the main arguments I’ve seen in support of the proposal. This one will focus…