(Blackburn News file photo)(Blackburn News file photo)
Midwestern

Talking about universal basic income

The Perth Huron United Way's Social Research & Planning Council is hosting a virtual Basic Income Forum this Wednesday night.

United Way Executive Director, Ryan Erb, says discussion around basic income policy has been going on for many years, but he says COVID-19 has brought it to the forefront again. And Erb felt this was a good time to gather some experts together and explain how it works.

Erb says having access to income brings significant changes to a person's life.

“There are of course, changes that happen in a person's life when they have access to income. In all of the pilot studies we've seen, usually people make great decisions for their lives and improve themselves by going to get further education and then actually contributing more to the economy later on,” said Erb.

Erb adds, it's important to consider the broader pieces of a policy like Basic Income.

“You always have to think about many of the broader pieces of this kind of policy. So we're intrigued by it, the United Way supports it, endorses it, as does our Social Research and Planning Council and the health units, locally, so we think that there's a lot of merit to looking at it and discussing it further,” added Erb.

The virtual meeting will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday, live on YouTube.

More information and the link to the United Way's YouTube channel can be found at perthhuron.unitedway.ca.

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