Preliminary results from the Denver Basic Income Project that's providing cash to hundreds of unhoused people for one year, using the first 6 months of data:
• NO ONE receiving $1,000/mo still sleeping outside
• Full-time employment increased
• Fewer visits to the ER
• Fewer nights spent in jail
• Reduced use of social and public services
Read the full report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gqtOfZG2sSanWgUdzn-lx-pwSXZKabj-/view?pli=1
has anyone studying #UBI has considered the possibility of payday-lender style exploitation once this is rolled out to a large population? i can imagine desperate/hopeful people getting a lump sum loan with extortionate rates, backed by collateralized or garnished future UBI payments, which would make it a tool for oppression not liberation
I hope policymakers will make it illegal to use future UBI like that, but haven’t heard anyone mention this scenario yet
@alexch @scottsantens @ReimanSaara
I worry about that. With just a small group, mass exploitation has little chance of popping up.
With universality, your landlord, any service provider, or just someone who’s help you need, is fully aware of your income stream and can try to lay claim to a portion of it in perpetuity. UBI gives you something to negotiate with, but doesn’t prevent desperation.
@alexch @scottsantens @ReimanSaara
I don’t see an obvious way to prevent that exploitation with our current systems or UBI precepts. Rent is a claim to future income, so is a loan payment, and I think we want those. How to carve off the exploitation without encumbering UBI?
Also, this problem already exists in the world of any regular government payment, which suggests we haven’t found a solution for this yet, and/or it should be solved independently
@jqr @scottsantens @ReimanSaara Well yeah, but I'm not talking about ending all exploitation, just plugging a loan shark loophole which targets the *exact* demographic #UBI is meant to help the most; if someone trades their future monthly draw checks for a lump sum up-front and spends it all then they won't have cash when they need it later
financial exploitation is an eternal part of the human condition, but it's still a good idea to make loan sharks, payday lenders, and bail bondsmen illegal
Scott Santens
Alex Chaffee
Elijah Miller