Everything you need to know about the new pilot for care-leavers
EVERY 18-year-old leaving care will be offered £1,600 per month under new plans from the Welsh Government.
The Basic Income pilot, which was announced on Tuesday, will be made available to all young people leaving care who turn 18 during a 12-month period. Each will receive a payment of £1,600 per month for 24 months after their 18th birthday.
The Government has said the scheme will begin during the next financial year and run for three years. It will extend across all local authorities in Wales, and is expected to cost up to £20 million.
While the announcement has been welcomed by some, campaigners for a broader Universal Basic Income pilot have pushed for the scheme to be expanded.
“We welcome the principle of supporting care leavers and trying out aspects of Universal Basic Income,” said Cardiff Liberal Democrat councillor Joe Carter.
“Our concerns are that by targeting specific groups of people, in this case care leavers, we’re not having a universal element to this.
“This seems to go against the idea of what Universal Basic Income would achieve, by supporting the population at large and putting everyone on a level footing.”
What is Universal Basic Income?
The idea of Universal Basic Income has been around since the 16th Century, but the concept has become increasingly mainstream over the past few years.
In the UK, the cost of implementing UBI has been estimated at an eye-watering £28 billion. However, the Royal Scottish Academy has found that if a basic income of £4,800 was provided to every person in Scotland, household poverty could drop by as much as 33%.
How is Wales’ scheme different?
The main difference between UBI and the Welsh pilot is that, unlike many of the other trials held across the globe, it is not universal. The exploratory scheme covers only young people leaving care.
The limited scope means the plans fall some way short of what was announced in May of last year, when the Welsh Government committed to a full trial of UBI.
The government confirmed on Wednesday that it no longer planned to pilot a version of UBI where every individual was given a sum each month, regardless of their means.
Campaigners have argued that UBI could help combat high levels of poverty in Wales. The country currently has the fourth highest poverty rates in the UK.
Wales has also had to deal with growing child poverty over the past few years, with over 30% of children in Wales currently living below the poverty line.
Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, released a report in November that found a progressive Universal Basic Income could halve poverty in Wales. She welcomed the limited trial, but called on the government to renew its commitment to a full UBI pilot.
“Today’s announcement is an important step forward for care-leavers,” she said.
“I hope this trial acts as a first step towards a full UBI programme which would provide a safety net for all, deliver a more equal, prosperous Wales and help break the endless cycle of poverty some are facing.”
What has the reaction from Cardiff been?
The new pilot has received a mixed reaction. Huw Thomas, leader of Cardiff Council, praised the scheme as “an extraordinary initiative, directly supporting one of the most vulnerable groups in society, who are at ultra-high risk of homelessness and exploitation”.
The Welsh government’s announcement was also welcomed by UBI Lab Cymru, a group advocating for a Basic Income pilot in Cardiff.
“We welcome this news,” the organisation said in a tweet. “The figure proposed has exceeded expectations and the Welsh Government should be commended for this.”
Support for UBI in Wales has grown in recent years, with a poll conducted by YouGov in 2020 showing that nearly half of respondents were in favour- although there was less support than in areas such as the North, London and Scotland.
The leader of Cardiff Conservatives, Adrian Robson, criticised the pilot scheme, saying the Welsh Government was “not living in reality”.
“This basic income trial comes at the wrong time,” he said. “While it is important to help the poorest and most vulnerable, other trials have found basic income does not have the anticipated outcome — it fails to incentivise work and wastes public money.
“I fear this will be the case with this trial.”
