Wales To Begin Basic Income Program For Teens Leaving Foster Care

Wales has approved a pilot program that would offer a monthly wage to young adults leaving foster care. The program, which does not have a formal start date planned but is likely to move forward in the summer, would begin paying those leaving foster care a month after their 18th birthday, and offer those payments for two years.

Social Justice Minister Jane Hutt told the BBC that the plan would “deliver financial stability for a generation of young people that need it most.”

The payment amounts to £1,600, or around $2,150, a month and is expected to be offered to about 500 eligible candidates. This makes it the highest amount offered by a basic income plan in the world. Because the program is conditional, it is not technically a UBI (universal basic income) proposal, though advocates and critics agree that its implementation will be relevant to the debate.

“I’m very worried about giving young people all of that money and expecting them to know how to spend it in the best way for themselves,” former youth worker Alex Sommerville told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast with Claire Summers. As someone who has gone through the care system herself, Sommerville added that she doesn’t expect the payments to encourage young people to work or pursue higher education.

To combat this, the proposal includes a plan for financial literacy classes and support to encourage the young beneficiaries to make the most of the opportunity. National Youth Advocacy representative Milly Floyd Evans, herself a teen in foster care, told the BBC that the financial benefits of the program could translate in other ways. “Many [in foster care] have been damaged, physical and mentally – this can help pay for private counseling or therapy as often public waiting lists for these services are so long.”

The payouts, which are taxed and set at the current real living wage, come on the heels of a similar program that the County of Santa Clara in California began in June of 2021. “When I got into the program, it really was like a superhero coming in to save the day,” said Veronica Vieyra, a 25-year-old program participant.

“I was just exiting the foster system and needed to move out of the college dorms because of the pandemic. The program allowed me to find a room, stay in the area, and get my degree. Now I’m in the process of finding work, and the additional income allows me to do so while keeping a roof over my head.”

“With so many people in Wales paid only the national minimum wage there may well be those who think the offer to care leavers is over-generous,” wrote BBC economics correspondent Sarah Dickins. “But in economic terms if the project is successful and results in better paid work and healthier lives, the long-term benefits would flow back into the economy.”

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