Barcelona district to trial €13 million universal income scheme

The notion of countries offering a universal basic income is a divisive one, with many arguing that it is impractical in reality. Switzerland held a referendum on introducing such a basic income – where every adult in the country receives a flat amount of money per month from the government – but rejected the plan…

However, one of the poorer regions of Barcelona is set to trial a new scheme designed to bestow government grants on those individuals in danger of falling below the breadline.

The groundbreaking pilot will be rolled out in the city’s Besós district, and will utilise €13 million of EU money. The scheme aims to investigate innovative and creative solutions to urban poverty, and Barcelona will join Utrecht in the Netherlands and Helsinki in Finland in trialling this new approach.

The grants will be available for two years and applicable to the poorest Besós residents, who will be randomly selected from 1,000 households that have the lowest income in the district. The amounts to be handed out will range between €400 and €525 per month.

There will be four separate groups, and each group will be analysed by the program officials to better understand how the money is being spent and how funding to deprived areas can be improved in the future.

Those selected for the program will be expected to join in on schemes designed to help them find long-term employment, and also social inclusion projects. The overall aim of the program is to ascertain the difference that can be made to low-income households once the basic cost of living is taken care of.

Laia Ortiz, who is in charge of social policy at Barcelona city hall, said: “We want to monitor what impact it will have once the right to housing is guaranteed.”

Project Manager Raffaele Barbato added. “The object of the scheme is to radically change and revolutionise the fight against urban poverty.

“We want to test and analyse how effective forms of universal economic support, combined with access to services such as housing, education, work and community participation can reduce poverty.”

The final goal is to develop a more efficient welfare state in Spain and across the EU, and the creators of the scheme should be applauded for devising an innovative method of not only reaching Spain’s poor, but better understanding their situation.