When I look at the future - Bea Bannister on UBI
Original image by Oleksandr Tretiak
FULL SPEECH
Hi, my name is Beatrice, I’m a student from London I’m just about to begin my a-levels and I’m honoured to be speaking at this event this evening alongside such incredibly inspiring, better qualified and long term supporters of a basic income. I believe I first learnt about a UBI at the age of 11 when Natalie Bennett, who was then the leader of the green party, mentioned it on a visit she paid to my school. I find it hard to believe that five years later I am speaking alongside the current leader of the green party and two other, such accomplished speakers. I was, from the moment I heard about it, and still am incredibly entranced by the idea and I am very grateful that over the last few months I have discovered this wonderful, welcoming and wide community and that I am now both a member of UBI Lab Youth and also a co founder of UBI Lab Women.
What attracted me to the UBI Lab Network and indeed to the idea of a universal basic income in the first place was its deeply personal (?) nature. At a time when so many government policies appeared to disregard the specific needs of the different people who make up this country, and this world, a basic income seemed different. It is not only liberating but it’s applications are wide-ranging. This network is about exploring the effect it would have for every one of us. I have very little qualification to be talking to you tonight except for being myself, being a person with a future that a basic income would influence, being someone who, like all of you, is unique. So, this evening, I’m going to talk to you about the future I see for myself and my friends with and without a basic income. We have our whole adult lives ahead of us and yet right now: whilst we may be told we can do anything, the reality seems far from that, there are so many factors that will decide and are already deciding what our future becomes, that we are powerless to fight against.
You may or may not remember being my age. I am fortunate enough to go to a school where we can have conversations about our future and know that in theory most paths are open to us: we are some of the luckiest students in the country in this respect and yet in reality there is an upsetting trend amongst us. When I talk to my friends in general, and before making decisions about our future, such as what a levels we want to study, time and time again, the biggest decider is money. And I don’t blame us for this, it is the natural consequence of a society in which the future seems more and more uncertain, it’s the consequence of those older than us telling us how important money is in this world (and they are not wrong), it’s the consequence of wanting a stable future. It is also incredibly damaging, both to us and to society.
When we choose our future based on money and not on our interests, we resign our dreams and we loose our individuality. Our society loses some of the most interesting jobs, it loses entrepreneurs and we end up with a large proportion of the workforce dissatisfied. Some of the careers that we are tempted to pursue for money are the following:
Law
Accounting
Engineering
A recent survey of 1200 UK professionals by CV library found that 54.5% of the legal industry are unhappy in their job, accounting has a workforce dissatisfaction rate of 50% and engineering is at 44.8%. These are huge numbers and they are fuelled by the fact that we have to choose jobs based on pay and not what would best use our interests and abilities. This also decreases workforce productivity and damages the economy. Unhappy workers have been proven to be 10% less productive than average. So, when I look at the future that currently stands before my generation: it is one that is defined by money, it is one in which we will most probably not go into the careers we most want to unless they also happen to be ones that pay us well. As one of my friends remarked: “If my passion was a job with a low salary then I’d have to reconsider because I also know how badly I want a family and probably to live in London so I know that requires money to be able to support that idea”. We are not making these choices because we are a mercenary, materialistic generation but because we are realistic and aware of the current cost of the future we desire. Perhaps this is the future that some of you are already in.
Now i want to devote some time to the future i see for myself with a basic income. This is a future where we can study what we want, volunteer, make ethical purchasing choices and, as cheesy as it sounds, be happier. It is a future in which we can take more risks, knowing that we have a safety net below us. This is a future in which the devastating effects of the coronavirus can be diminished.
Above all, this is not a future defined by finality. This is a future in which you can change career, retrain, take time off, spend longer finding a job that interests you, fight against unfair wages. This is a future in which every decision I make doesn’t feel as though its leading to an inevitable end. This is a future I am excited about and a future i welcome instead of dread.
As a woman, the future with a basic income would be a huge improvement. In recent times we have stopped seeing unpaid labour as work. Women perform 75% of unpaid care work. On average for 4 hours and 25 minutes a day whilst men put in 1 hour and 23 minutes. Globally, girls aged between five and 14 years old spend 40 per cent more time on domestic chores. I long for a future in which the unpaid work is shared between men and women and I believe a basic income would get us closer to this goal. At the very least it would reward women for the work they put in. At the most it would encourage sharing of unpaid labour because it would no longer be unpaid. It could also allow people to pay others to perform those tasks for them. Ultimately, once more it would come back to freedom.
I want to stress that I know a basic income is not a panacea. It isn’t going to solve all our problems but it would be a huge improvement on the current situation. Right now, my friends and I are apprehensive about the future. We make our choices based on money. We are unsure how the economic effects of the coronavirus are going to impact us with nearly 750,000 jobs lost in the UK already. We feel as though our choices will be final, we are unlikely to be entrepreneurs, we are unlikely to volunteer, we are unlikely to be recompensed for the unpaid work we are likely to perform.
A basic income changes this.
A basic income is within reach.
A basic income is a simple solution for an ever more complex world.
Thank you.
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More about the author
Beatrice Bannister - @BeaBannister
London, UK
Student, co-founder of @UBILabWomen, member of @UBILabYouth