Can Universal Basic Income (UBI) be the solution to the ever-increasing economic insecurity and inequality around the world? On June 8th, a special side event of the UN Human Rights Council gathered to discuss a new report by Professor Philip Alston, U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, which calls UBI “a bold and imaginative solution” to the economic and social changes taking place globally.
Speaking to the Human Rights Council, Alston described many ordinary people feeling “exposed, vulnerable, overwhelmed, and helpless” while some “are being systematically marginalized both economically and socially.” He called upon the human rights community to engage with the resulting “deep economic insecurity.”
He sees the coming economic changes affecting not only the currently unemployed and underemployed but even those who have a job now, citing looming game-changers like the advent of full automation in many industries and the freelancer-based “Uber economy.” From that perspective, the growing economic insecurity presents “a fundamental threat to all human rights,” said Alston.
“There’s a clear right to be able to live in dignity, to…
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