UBI: From Distant Ideal to Transformative Policy with Kate Pickett

Thursday February 19th
Doors & drinks at 6.30pm; Talks starts 7pm

This event is now fully booked. We don't have a waiting list.

In a future shaped by rapid AI-driven changes to the labour market and intensifying climate risks, Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an essential structural reform, not a welfare tweak.

As work and communities are transformed, UBI could provide a secure, unconditional income, buffering households against upheaval, enhancing social cohesion and sustaining purposeful human activity.

In this talk, Kate Pickett - epidemiologist, Director of the Born in Bradford Centre for Social Change at the University of York, author of "The Good Society" and co-author of "Basic Income" - will outline how UBI can protect health, education and opportunity in the face of the systemic shocks that are on the way.

She will show how UBI can act as a shield against poverty-related stress, a key determinant of health and inequality: A predictable income supports preventive care, stable housing and continuous learning, and mitigates the health and educational disparities exposed by volatile labour markets and climate events. The policy is particularly protective for vulnerable groups - women, disabled people, migrants and youth - who are most at risk when shocks hit.

Kate will explore the crucial design choices behind any UBI scheme. How much do people get, who is eligible and how do we administer and fund it? How can we develop feasible and acceptable processes and design elements and fund them through progressive taxation and public investment?

UBI is a potential lever to reduce inequality, improve health outcomes, and strengthen democratic legitimacy by decreasing precarity and increasing participation in civic life. Kate will invite us to join a collective ambition - grounded in evidence, tested through pilots and scalable to diverse contexts - to move a universal basic income from a distant ideal to a practical, transformative policy. 

Her talk will be followed by a one-pot vegan supper and discussion.

Kairos, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TG

Doors open at 6.30pm for drinks. Talk starts at 7pm.

£8 Frequent Visitor and Supporter Members; £15 Standard (includes Community Members); £10 Struggling financially; £8 Under 30s; £20 with Donation. Food complimentary. (To find out more about membership, visit our Membership page.)

Before requesting a discounted ticket, please consider sincerely: Are you struggling to meet your basic needs? Would you have to make a genuine sacrifice to buy a full priced ticket? Do you have reduced earnings through a lifestyle choice or rather because you're dedicating your time to unpaid work relating to the climate and nature crises or as a result of structural inequality? If you're struggling to pay even the reduced price please contact us on events@kairos.london.

Please note that most of our events take place in our basement space and we do not have a lift so our venue is not fully accessible. Please get in touch if you have accessibility issues via events@kairos.london.

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