The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales Pilot was launched by the First Minister on 1st July 2022, in line with the Programme for Government commitment to pilot an approach to basic income in Wales.
The £20 million pilot scheme will provide a cohort of young people leaving care with an unconditional cash transfer of £1600 per month pre-tax (net £1280), and is being evaluated by a team from CASCADE, a research centre at Cardiff University.
The Wales Centre for Public Policy was asked by the Welsh Government to convene a conference with academic experts – from Wales, the UK and internationally – to discuss the Pilot and its evaluation. The conference aimed to ensure that officials and the evaluation team are able to draw on the best available evidence relating to what works in supporting care leavers, as well as insights from previous basic income trials.
The conference was held on 15th December 2022 and included a keynote address from Professor Sir Michael Marmot, as well as contributions from Professor Guy Standing, Welsh Government officials, the evaluators, and other organisations involved in trials of basic income initiatives.
Ahead of the conference, WCPP Senior Research Fellow Amanda Hill-Dixon wrote a blog situating the conference within the cost-of-living crisis and other WCPP work on poverty and children and families. The ‘highlights’ pack of the event includes summaries of discussions between delegates and video recordings of speakers’ presentations.
An accessible version of this document can be downloaded as a PowerPoint file.