“In our newest report, Accelerating Equity and Justice: Basic Income and Generational Wealth, IASP and our partner Jim Pugh from the Universal Income Project illuminate a pathway to security and justice in these uncertain times. This report reveals how combined monthly Basic Income and Kids’ Futures Accounts promote family economic mobility at an unprecedented scale. When put to work in tandem in the form of a Just Futures Fund, these programs have the power to eliminate income and asset poverty for U.S. households virtually and significantly increase racial wealth equity.
Download Accelerating Equity and Justice: Basic income and Generational Wealth
“Normal” was the problem before COVID-19, which now exposes our economic, social, and health vulnerability and utter inadequacies of our safety net infrastructure. Our current landscape features massive and widening wealth and income inequality, sluggish poverty amidst ostentatious wealth, homelessness on the rise, stagnated living standards alongside stalled social mobility, one-third of Americans running out of money before their next paycheck arrives, onerous debt burdens, artificial intelligence and automation-induced employment anxiety, cavernous and deepening racial wealth inequality combined with aggravated race and ethnic tensions. The current policy response is not helpful; instead, it’s part of the problem as safety net and wellbeing programs are under severe attack.
In this policy brief, we critically examine the existing evidence and theories pertinent to cash transfers and wealth-generating programs, highlighting bold promises, evidentiary foundation, and challenges. The next section builds upon what we know about cash transfers and wealth accumulation to design a realistic Just Futures Fund policy proposal. We model the estimated impacts for this bold policy design with racial justice and equity as our North Stars. Spoiler Alert: [the results are incredibly impressive, transformative, disruptive, popular, and doable].”
The newest report from Heller School at Brandeis, Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) and partner Jim Pugh from the Universal Income Project can be found HERE.
