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Diversion Ahead? Change Is Needed but That Doesn’t Mean That Basic Income Is the Answer

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Implementing a Basic Income in Australia

Part of the book series: Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee ((BIG))

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Abstract

Using an expanded version of De Wispelaere and Stirton’s 2004 framework for assessing basic income policies, we examine selected past and recent trials. The trials have all produced inconclusive results, in part because of the political contexts in which they have been implemented. As a result, they do little to progress policy reforms to address the challenges of economic insecurities and inequalities. Basic income proposals can act as beacons for change, but because they often lack detail, they risk distracting attention from the challenges and opportunities for social security reform. Our expanded framework enables detailed assessment of the dimensions of proposals for change. It also enables the identification of the elements of basic income proposals that can be incorporated into progressive efforts to reclaim social security.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Brotherhood of St Laurence, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia

    Dina Bowman & Diarmuid Cooney-O’Donoghue

  2. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Dina Bowman & Shelley Mallett

Authors
  1. Dina Bowman
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  2. Shelley Mallett
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  3. Diarmuid Cooney-O’Donoghue
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Correspondence to Dina Bowman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. John Medley Building, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Elise Klein

  2. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Jennifer Mays

  3. University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Tim Dunlop

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Bowman, D., Mallett, S., Cooney-O’Donoghue, D. (2019). Diversion Ahead? Change Is Needed but That Doesn’t Mean That Basic Income Is the Answer. In: Klein, E., Mays, J., Dunlop, T. (eds) Implementing a Basic Income in Australia. Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14378-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14378-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14377-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14378-7

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