THE link between work and financial security has “fundamentally broken” since the 2008 financial crash, it is claimed.
A report published today by the RSA charity (the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) and Nottingham Trent University says universal basic income must be introduced to help workers cope during the next decade.
The paper says the move would complement paid work and ease the debt burden held by individuals.
A survey commissioned as part of the analysis found four in five in-work adults worry inflation will outstrip their pay.
The report, to be launched in Nottingham today, cites automation, climate change, Brexit and an ageing population as factors that could exacerbate economic insecurities in the 2020s.
It concludes that greater housing support is also needed at “key crunch points” such as the birth of a child or the breakup of a family, also calling for public healthcare to have a preventative focus.
Atif Shafique, senior researcher at the RSA, said: “Having a job is no longer a?guarantor of economic security — more?than seven million people in working households live in poverty, wage growth lagged behind inflation for most of the last decade, and close to eight million people in the UK live with problem debt.
“Ten years after the crash, and?we need a step-change.?
“Community, place, identity and personal responsibility all have an important role to play.
“But to help ordinary working families?take ownership of their lives, local and national policy-makers must reshape policy around economic security too, becoming more strategic in when services intervene, preventing problems before they happen, and more expansive in who they help, as automation and other challenges affect people across the income spectrum.”
Researchers used Nottingham as a case study for the report, which follows work by RSA chief Matthew Taylor, a former aide to Tony Blair who authored the Taylor Review into Modern Employment for the Prime Minister. Published last summer, it called for changes in the so-called gig economy in favour of the sector’s estimated 1.1m workers, and said all jobs should be “fair and decent”.
In November the Scottish Government announced a £250,000 grant for four councils now designing basic income scheme pilots.
These include Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow and North Ayrshire, with support expressed by politicians from all of the country’s four main parties. According to a civil service briefing paper, the policy could cost £12.3 billion a year if rolled out across the country.
Sturgeon said we need to be “open-minded” about the link between work and financial security.
She added: “It might turn out not to be the answer, it might turn out not to be feasible.
“But as work and employment changes as rapidly as it is doing, I think its really important that we are prepared to be open-minded about the different ways that we can support individuals to participate fully in the new economy.”
Commenting on the new report, Dr Paula Black, director of Nottingham Civic Exchange at Nottingham Trent University, said: “We noticed through our work looking at how ordinary working families felt about their financial situation as well as the economic reality, that economic insecurity was a common theme and warranted further exploration.
“As policymakers increasingly discuss ordinary working families, it is important they understand the way that economic insecurity impacts their lives and that the subjective element of how people feel is important in this. We are delighted to be working with the RSA on this programme of work.”
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