Cynon Valley the perfect place for UBI pilot, says MP

Beth Winter MP said that the Cynon Valley would be the perfect place for a trial of Universal Basic Income (UBI).

Beth Winter welcomed the recent decision by Mark Drakeford to run a UBI pilot in Wales, which she said should include a range of people, preferably all members of an identifiable geographical area.

Universal Basic Income is the idea that every citizen receives regular sums of money to cover basic living costs regardless of whether they have a job and how much they earn.

Beth Winter is calling on Welsh Government to ensure the pilot covers different cohorts of people, including the employed, the unemployed and children, and that it takes place in an area that stands to benefit the most, such as Cynon Valley.

Beth Winter said: ‘The existing welfare benefits system is completely failing the people of the Cynon Valley. Food bank use is ballooning and earlier this month we saw upsetting new evidence that the child poverty rate in Cynon is now a massive 34.5%. This figure is higher again in some parts of the Valley.’

‘It is time for radical change that puts the wellbeing of people first and provides a real safety net. Universal Basic Income has the potential to do just that, so a well-designed pilot is the crucial next step towards a fairer future.’