Back to All Events

Black Women And The Case For Universal Basic Income In The North

READ HERE - Article by Tchiyiwe Chihana

Can a Universal Basic Income reduce poverty and the gap between the poor and rich? And what would UBI mean for black women?

The Universal Basic Income (UBI) movement has very few black women in it, with my voice often drowning from failure to speak up in rooms where black women's lived experiences are alien and unrelatable to the predominantly white, male, middle-class advocates that dominate it. With every chance that I grab to speak up, I am compelled to remind everyone that unless we look at policy changes that will include the least of us, our universality efforts are futile.

UBI is an economic programme where every citizen is guaranteed an income. Regular cash payments are made to everyone unconditionally. This payment would be made to individuals and not to households, with no stipulation of how it should be spent. The payment would not be means-tested.