A short note to back up Guy's comments with which I broadly agree.
But getting a Basic Income Grant (BIG) into action is difficult as has been experienced in South Africa. A commission headed by Taylor in 2002 recommended the implementation of a BIG and the success of the pilot scheme in Namibia in 2008 (referred to by Guy) provided support. The Taylor Commission had estimated the net cost of the BIG as 2% of GDP and yet such a BIG would have halved the number of poor in South Africa and would have taken the remaining half from 12% below the poverty line to within 4%.
And yet, so far, the National and Provincial governments have not provided backing for the Taylor report nor for a pilot project in one or more of the Provinces.
Chris Edwards
Research Associate, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
But getting a Basic Income Grant (BIG) into action is difficult as has been experienced in South Africa. A commission headed by Taylor in 2002 recommended the implementation of a BIG and the success of the pilot scheme in Namibia in 2008 (referred to by Guy) provided support. The Taylor Commission had estimated the net cost of the BIG as 2% of GDP and yet such a BIG would have halved the number of poor in South Africa and would have taken the remaining half from 12% below the poverty line to within 4%.
And yet, so far, the National and Provincial governments have not provided backing for the Taylor report nor for a pilot project in one or more of the Provinces.
Chris Edwards
Research Associate, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
