This report explores the lives and experiences of residents in three neighbourhoods of Eix Besos in North-Eastern Barcelona.
From December 2017 to late 2019, these communities were part of a radical experiment “B-MINCOME” – to tackle urban poverty and social exclusion in the city. B-MINCOME was a pilot study trialling a minimum income and, for some participants, active policy programmes (related to employment, community, social enterprise and housing) for approximately 900 people in 10 neighbourhoods for 24 months.
This report tells the story of how people experienced B-MINCOME, the impact it had on individuals, families and communities and builds on previous baseline research conducted by The Young Foundation in 2017, which detailed what life was like in the three neighbourhoods prior to B-MINCOME. While B-MINCOME has been positioned and discussed in relation to debates about basic income, as can be seen in Appendix 1, it only partially fulfils the characteristics of a basic income, like the vast majority of so-called basic income trials, and can more accurately be described as a minimum income experiment. Nevertheless, this qualitative study of B-MINCOME reveals the lived experience of this type of trial, which is often overlooked, with implications for the design and implementation of future basic and minimum income trials and policies.
As part of the research undertaken for this report, a series of videos were created to hear the voices of basic income. These videos were made by people who participated in the B-MINCOME minimum income trial in Barcelona. They were made using a participatory video process, supported by The Young Foundation, and shared at screenings in the community in 2019. In the videos, people reflect on ‘the most significant change’ they experienced as a result of B-MINCOME.
B-MINCOME was a collaborative project funded by the European Union through Urban Innovative Actions. The Young Foundation has worked in partnership with Barcelona City Council, as well as the other B-MINCOME project partners: The Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Institut Català d’Avaluació de Polítiques Públiques (Ivalua), Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech (UPC), and the International Institute for Nonviolent Action (NOVACT).
Posted on: 5 April 2020 Authors: Amanda Hill-Dixon, Gitanjali Patel, Hannah Davis, Victoria Boelman,