Commenting on more Conservatives announcing their support for an
emergency Basic Income to help the self-employed, Anthony Painter,
chief research and impact officer at the RSA, said:
“It is welcome to see many more Conservatives supporting an
emergency Basic Income, especially for the self-employed.
“The current system is complex, means-tested and cumbersome –
polling for the RSA indicates that only 16% of workers could live
off £94 per week. There is a real risk that in overly designing a
means-tested system, HM Treasury will miss many of those on
low-and-middle incomes the government wants to help.
“We can’t afford to miss anyone right now. It’s little wonder
that so many are still putting themselves and others at risk on
public transport when 47% of self-employed and 51% of those in
atypical work such as zero-hour contracts would feel obliged to
work when unwell.
"Our worry is that basing grants on 80% of average earnings over
three years will throw up too many anomalies given the changeable
nature of year-to-year earnings of this segment of the workforce
leaving some with very low incomes short and may prove to be too
slow and bureaucratic. However, if the Government does take that
route, we would support it on the basis that it is action and
that is needed now as no route is perfect.
“Under the RSA’s proposals, which contain many of the key
elements of a basic income, in the first month they would see a
one-off payment of £1,500 plus £450, followed by £450 in months
two and three, on top of Universal Credit and housing costs. This
would throw a much-needed lifeline to the self-employed suffering
right now, with economic security working hand-in-hand with
universal healthcare to protect our vital public services.
"This approach would get money to the self-employed and gig
workers fast so they could stop work if they had to. It would
benefit more than 80 percent of the lowest earning self-employed
now at a level at least as generous as the employment protection
scheme that PAYE workers and benefit. All self-employed would
receive the emergency Basic Income element. And unlike that
scheme they would still be able to work and receive top-up income
if they were healthy and able to do so.”
ends
Read the RSA's proposals and polling on the self-employed and
coronavirus in here
