Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Western Endeavour - Issue No.: 1140 Issue Date: 6 Oct, 2024

"LACEY FILIPICH-”WE SHOULD TEST THE  UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME CONCEPT IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA”

Lacey Filipich is a chemical engineer, financial educator and the founder of two small businesses, Money School and Maker Kids Club.

She is the author of ‘Money School: Become financially independent and reclaim your time’, and a TEDx speaker.

Lacey is on ABC 720 with Geoff Hutchison fortnightly and appears on Sky TV and more.Today Lacey spoke passionately to our club about the potential benefits of universal basic income to overcome poverty in Australia.

Poverty is A massive problem in Australia and it’s getting worse not better!

One in seven Australian adults lives below the poverty line!

One in six Australian children – also!

More than 116,000 Australians slept rough last night and hundreds of thousands possibly millions more slept in their cars or on couches or in the spare room at a friends or in a caravan because they don’t have housing security.

Significantly, the age and gender group experience the fastest growing demand for homeless support in the last few years has been women over 55.

Then, there is the pensioners living on the poverty line itself – paying taxes all their lives and still ending up with a subsistence level of support.

Lacey pointed out that poor people make poor financial choices but it’s not necessarily a character flaw.

She says that the poor choices are due to immense stress of being down and out.

Lacey noted that the Covid pandemic which brought about job keeper and jobseeker, illustrates how handing out money  kept so many people who would otherwise have been desperate.

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME  or UBI is another possible lever to

stave-off mass poverty and homelessness.

The premise for UBI is to give money to citizens for for nothing.

No Strings attached!

Theoretically, it takes away the poor factor helping them feel like their housing is secure and they'll be able to eat and take away some of the stress that leads to continual poverty.

UBI in itself is not a silver bullet. People still have to learn how to manage their money wisely and invest for the future individuals must take responsibility for how they use their cash. But you can’t teach someone in poverty how to manage their cash with a straight face when they have to choose between eating and paying rent.

Lacey recommended some reading to back up what she had said about UBI.

UTOPIA FOR REALISTS BY RUTGERS BERGMAN

RESET BY ROSS GARNAUT

THREE DOLLARS BY ELLIOTT PERRIMAN ( also a movie)

Lacey also recommended watching the series STRUGGLE STREET which appeared on SBS

Useful Link https://www.moneyschool.org.au/27july/