The New Economy and a Basic Income Guarantee
When and Where
Description
A basic income guarantee (BIG) could provide every Canadian with an income sufficient to meet their minimal needs and live with dignity. Such a policy could also be a response to recent changes in the nature of employment, labour and work (e.g., declining benefits, employment precarity, erosion in working conditions, income inequality, free trade, job automation, outdated laws).
This conference will bring together over 250 representatives from academia, community, government, industry, law, unions and workers to:
• Identify changes to the nature of employment, labour and work that are pushing stakeholders in work arrangements (e.g., government, industry, labour, and workers) towards considering changes to social programs;
• Understand the challenges, expectations, and priorities of stakeholders to more effectively reflect their basic needs in the design of social programs;
• Review the fundamentals, history, and purpose of a BIG, as well as the evidence and theory on the intended and unintended labour market impacts of such a policy;
• Explore the relationship between a basic income guarantee policy and the broader politics of
labour policy and redistribution in Ontario; and
• Examine the economic, financial, political and social realities that are underlying stakeholders’ motivations towards administering, designing, organizing, planning, and receiving a BIG.