A week before the election, it released a statement deepening its commitment to finalising a policy to transform the state’s Covid grant into a universal basic income (UBI) within two years of forming a new administration.
“When you put money into the hands of the poorest households it lifts the whole economy,” says Kelle Howson, a senior researcher from the Johannesburg-based Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ), which is part of a coalition of civil society organisations calling for a basic income grant in South Africa.
In the UK, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that maintaining the uplift in universal credit payments, which ended in 2021, would have limited the number of households in extreme poverty – defined as lacking essentials like food, shelter, heating, clothes and toiletries – to 1.5 million in 2022.
She works on the #PayTheGrants campaign, which joined the IEJ in filing court papers against the South African government in July 2023, challenging regulations excluding millions of people living in poverty from monthly payments.
Final results from the evaluation are not expected until 2027, to track the longer-term impact on the lives of recipients, but Jane Hutt, the minister for social justice, said in October that she had heard “fantastic feedback”.
After the first year, participants said the payments had allowed them to recover from illness, turn down small jobs for more ambitious projects, spend more time with friends, pay for therapy and even feel more at home in Ireland.
The original article contains 1,146 words, the summary contains 247 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A week before the election, it released a statement deepening its commitment to finalising a policy to transform the state’s Covid grant into a universal basic income (UBI) within two years of forming a new administration.
“When you put money into the hands of the poorest households it lifts the whole economy,” says Kelle Howson, a senior researcher from the Johannesburg-based Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ), which is part of a coalition of civil society organisations calling for a basic income grant in South Africa.
In the UK, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that maintaining the uplift in universal credit payments, which ended in 2021, would have limited the number of households in extreme poverty – defined as lacking essentials like food, shelter, heating, clothes and toiletries – to 1.5 million in 2022.
She works on the #PayTheGrants campaign, which joined the IEJ in filing court papers against the South African government in July 2023, challenging regulations excluding millions of people living in poverty from monthly payments.
Final results from the evaluation are not expected until 2027, to track the longer-term impact on the lives of recipients, but Jane Hutt, the minister for social justice, said in October that she had heard “fantastic feedback”.
After the first year, participants said the payments had allowed them to recover from illness, turn down small jobs for more ambitious projects, spend more time with friends, pay for therapy and even feel more at home in Ireland.
The original article contains 1,146 words, the summary contains 247 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!