In Jan 2021, agenda item 6 of the UK Government's Economy Committee was dedicated to the discussion of the universal income solution (transcript attached). Universal Income (also known as Universal Basic Income) is a concept with a long history that is meant to solve complex social mobility and economic issues that nationals face. It is thought to be first proposed in the 1960s as anthropologists were documenting fast-fading hunter-gatherer cultures. This idea of a guaranteed minimum income entered the political mainstream back then and was even endorsed by Martin Luther King Jr. In recent years Universal Basic Income Labs were formed to experiment on this solution.

There are 40 UBI Labs, with 35 based in the UK. 30 are based in towns and cites across the country (including Northern Ireland and Wales) and five are non-geographic, identity-based - UBI Lab Youth, UBI Lab Womxn, UBI Lab Arts, UBI Lab LGBTQ+ and UBI Lab Disability. A number of other themed UBI Labs are in the pipeline. There are five international UBI Labs.

The trouble is that UBI has socialism undertones, although being developed in economies which rely on Capitalism. Funding for UBI depends on charitable donations. I have proposed the use of intangible assets as an alternative solution because it relies on businesses, organisations and entrepreneurship (capitalism) and can be sustainably self-funded. I'm looking to form a pilot lab so this area can be researched more deeply.

#UBI #intangibleassets #diversityandinclusion #openaccess