What is a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI)? It is an unconditional and universal income, administered by federal governments and granted to individuals to ensure that no person's income falls below what is necessary for health, life and dignity.

In the past it was called a Guaranteed Annual Income; today, some groups call it a Basic Income. It is a concept that has been promoted by people such as Thomas Paine (1796), Martin Luther King Jr. (1968) as well as being one of the recommendations in Canada's Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1972. Today there are over 25 countries in the world with active guaranteed income groups including in Europe, Africa, South America, New Zealand, Australia, the U.S and Canada. See the Canadian Website: www.livableincome.org for more details.

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For myself, 90% of what I worry about is money, and lack of it.
-Meshum

A Guaranteed Livable Income would be a big paradigm shift.
It will really change the way people look at the world,
how we interact with each other, and what we value.
Just the idea of a GLI in the world will begin the process of change.
-Janine

We all are dependent on each other most of the time.
For example, the food that we eat, maybe I cooked it,
but I didn't produce it, I didn't sell it.  
We are like a chain, all connected to each other.
We are responsible for each other.
If one is broken, everything falls apart,
and that is what we are living in this society now.
-Hilda

This is the issue that has to be tackled worldwide,
not just limited to one country or one continent.
We are facing the same problems in all parts of the world.
-Evelyn

GLI would be a breath of fresh air;
it would be the closest thing to utopia;
it would be finally progress.
-Rachel

If people have GLI,
then it frees us up to think of what we need,
and how do we create a sustainable place to live.
-Sol

I see this as a different way of doing economics,
of revaluing what is important.
We are way past the limits of economic growth.
A Guaranteed Livable Income is a step toward
a guaranteed livable world.
-Valerie

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Introduction to the Report: What is this all about?

Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) is an idea that just won't go away. It was a popular social justice demand in the 1960's and 70's (then called Guaranteed Annual Income): proposed by Martin Luther King Jr.; promoted by U.S. socioeconomist Robert Theobald as a response to automation; recommended in Canada's Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1972; and the subject of a multi-year Canadian experiment called the "Manitoba Mincome" in 1974-77. It was even featured in the first issue of Ms. Magazine in 1972, where welfare activist Johnnie Tillmon stated: "Maybe we poor welfare women will really liberate women in this country... . We put together our own welfare plan, called Guaranteed Adequate Income, which would eliminate sexism from welfare."  

But by the mid-1980's, the idea fell (or was pushed) to the wayside. Demanding good jobs, good wages and daycare was, and still is, regarded as the primary solution to poverty by social justice groups.   However, there is a major problem with this "solution": it does not address the fact that women are the producers of humanity. Without this work, not only would the economy quickly come to an end (no more workers, consumers, clients, patients, students etc.), but all of humanity would end.

This intense work cannot be viewed a small hobby women do on the side while they also do their "real" work. The costs of doing unpaid work are very high. According to 2004 Revenue Canada data obtained by this project, there are 67 percent more women than men in the lowest income groups of under $30,000 per year, and there are 337 percent more men than women in the highest income groups of over $100,000 per year. Gee, I wonder why men aren't rushing to quit their jobs to be fulltime dads and demanding implanted wombs? Yet, even though the economics of unpaid work has been written about for decades by feminists such as Marilyn Waring, most "progressives" continue to advocate solutions to poverty that render this work invisible. To treat this work as a small side issue that can be addressed through demanding jobs and daycare, does not reflect the intensity of time, thought and energy it takes to create and nurture new human beings to functioning adulthood. No proposals are offered that regard family care, as essential or legitimate work. (Groveling for welfare is not a solution; many women would rather do anything than subject themselves to that humiliation.) By default this supports the continuation of women's slavery-what else can you call work that is (a) essential, (b) unpaid and (c) is expected to be done almost exclusively by one group. This is not an issue that can be ignored since it affects all women and all jobs that look remotely look like "women's work": if something is normally done for free, then any price seems too high.

Recently, however, interest in various forms of guaranteed income has been shown by groups as diverse as the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres and Toronto Dominion Bank economists. In 2005 Dr. Evelyn Forget of the University of Manitoba began a project to examine data from the Manitoba Mincome; in early 2006, guaranteed income was mentioned as a possible solution to rural poverty in a University of Saskatchewan report and by a member of the Canadian Senate Committee on Agriculture. Most recently, the Saskatchewan office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives included Basic Income in their Alternative Provincial Budget. (sources)

The amount of analysis of guaranteed income is growing-there are over a hundred discussion papers on the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee website alone-but the voices are those of (mostly male) academics. With this project we wanted to document the voices of the women who would be most profoundly and immediately affected by the implementation of a GLI: women from the grassroots-not the ivory tower; women not near the glass ceiling except to clean it; women standing in the rain at bus stops, packing kids, groceries and a lifetime of worries; women who leave the food bank in tears; women who finally explode in frustration and rage at the welfare office; women who are almost paralysed by anxiety; women who have survived attacks of all kinds from all sides; women who must smile at all times to keep their service job; women who help others worse off than themselves even though they cannot afford to; and women who skillfully disguise their anger and poverty, but if you ask them, they will say: "they want to kill us."

With funding provided by Status of Women Canada and the participation of 44 women, we were able to create a mini think-tank on Guaranteed Livable Income. We did not set out to determine 'if' a guaranteed income is wanted, or not wanted, by women. There is simply not enough familiarity with the concept to have an informed discussion. However, this report can be used as a starting place for such discussions-now especially urgent due to the impacts of poverty on health, and the environmental damage caused by blind pursuit of economic growth and jobs. With that in mind, we interviewed women who were interested in the concept of GLI, women who contacted us wanting to be interviewed, and women we met through outreach or community meetings. This report documents the highlights of approximately 50 hours of interviews, 4 focus groups and almost 400 pages of notes. We discussed the benefits of Guaranteed Livable Income; the costs of poverty; concerns about what might go wrong, and the barriers and strategies to achieve a GLI. It is also important to point out that, although we examined the benefits to women of Guaranteed Livable Income, women emphasized GLI is needed for everyone.

Goals of the project

* Investigate and document the benefits that would accrue to women with the implementation a universal Guaranteed Livable Income as compared to a) the costs of the continuation of the feminization of poverty and b) the costs of pursuing jobs as a solution to poverty.   

* Disseminate our findings in order to expand social policy debate in BC and elsewhere to include how women would benefit from a universal Guaranteed Livable Income.

* Analyze and evaluate the response to our findings in order increase effectiveness of future action for women's economic justice.

Coordinator's background

I have come to this work through being a mother, anti-poverty organizer and former coordinator of a women's centre. I do not have an academic background, but have learned from my children, my family, and from organizing and attending possibly hundreds of community meetings since 1988 with groups which focused on the issues of children, poverty and women, as well as extensive research, interviews, discussions and writing. I am from rural Northern Alberta (Peace River) with a Cree-Metis father and a Dutch mother. In the early 1980's I moved to the west coast of BC, married and had three children before the age of 30. Later, I learned about life as a single mother on welfare. This prompted me to begin organizing grassroots meetings on poverty issues. At these meetings the idea of guaranteed livable income would always come up as the most logical demand to organize for. In 2001, I was hired as the coordinator of the Victoria Status of Women Action Group and guaranteed livable income became a solution we focused on. In 2004, provincial funding to women's centres was cut 100 percent and we survived for a year with barely enough donations to pay our modest rent. Then in July 2005, we received federal funding from Status of Women Canada to start this project. I also need to express how much I learned during the time in 2004/5 that I worked for a mental health organization. Until then, I had not realized how many mothers of children with disabilities provide care for their adult children or grandchildren sometimes well into their old age; and that people caring for their own health and wellness is sometimes a fulltime job, and that this work is vitally important to society, families and to individuals. Learning from those who have an acute awareness of the fragility of wellness and who consciously and generously express care for others, added valuable perspective to this project. Also working with co-members of Livable Income For Everyone provided insight, support and analysis.

Cindy L'Hirondelle, Coordinator, Women's Economic Justice Project, April 2006

About the Women interviewed

All women interviewed either currently, or formerly, have experience of low-incomes; all live in Victoria except for Mary Billy (Squamish, BC) and Perpetua Alfazema (Ontario) who were interviewed by telephone. Susan was interviewed by email. If only a first name is given, it indicates that the interviewee wished to remain anonymous.

Anna is a young woman with knowledge of the concerns of immigrant women.

Aletheia is a young woman with environmental and indigenous perspectives.

Bernice is a grandmother with indigenous perspectives.

Brenda is a mother, a health worker and union activist.

Claire is wise about poverty and older women, disability and the welfare system.

Cecia has knowledge of the true costs of low-wage work and the welfare system.

Dawn is wise about women with invisible disabilities, poverty and the search for meaningful work.

Debie O'Connell is a grandmother and grassroots activist, knowledgeable about poverty, disability, community.

Donna Furnival is knowledgeable about poverty and struggling to survive.

Eva has experience of raising children on a low-income and is originally from Eastern Europe.

Elizabeth is knowledgeable about invisible disabilities and the effects of workplace stress.

Evelyn Batamuliza is a young woman from Rwanda with knowledge about women's situation in many countries.

Faith is knowledgeable on the issues of racism, poverty and women's equality.

Florence knows about eldercare, inadequate housing and low income.

Gabrielle is wise on being true to yourself and finding the courage to do so.

Hilda is a mother with a working-class perspective from South America.

Janine Bandcroft publishes the Victoria Street Newz, the Left Coast e-news & co-hosts CFUV's Winds of Change.

Jennifer has spent years as a part-time office worker and is originally from the U.S.

Jessy is a young mother who abandoned middle-class roots to follow her values.

Kyla is a grade 11 student with a minimum wage job.

Kathy recently moved to Victoria after spending years in a rural BC community.

Kym Hothead is a two-spirited Metis writer and activist, wise about health and disability.

Linda is a single mother who is very familiar with life on low-income.

Lyudmyla recently moved to BC from the Ukraine.

Mary Billy has been active for decades on women's rights.

Mary Collins is an active Metis elder and grandmother.

Meshum Prey is a young mother, a student and a low-wage worker.

Naomi is a young mother with knowledge of racism, classism and sexism.

Olive is a former business person wise about health and disability

Olga is a mother and is originally from Eastern Europe.

Perpetua Alfazema was born in central Mozambique and currently lives in Ontario.

Rachel is a university student knowledgeable about poverty and multiple discriminations.

Rita is an elder activist wise about poverty and disability.

Rose Henry is a Coast Salish women's activist and a pillar in the social justice community.

Ruth moved here years ago from a northern country and is a student and mother.

Samantha is knowledgeable about poverty and First Nations women's health.

Sasha is a young mother with knowledge about poverty and community work.

Sharon is knowledgeable about impacts of poverty on health and education.

Sol Kinnis is a young mother active in the co-op movement.

Stephanie Lovatt is from Ireland and is president of Victoria Status of Women Action Group

Suzanne is a community worker and mother with indigenous perspectives.

Susan teaches at university, is an author and has had experiences of poverty

Terry is a grandmother with experiences of poverty

Valerie has done decades of community work in Western Canada

Additional Material: Diane Bernard (section on social breakdown), JS Larochelle (section on costs), Patricia Grinsteed (section on strategies)