International Scientific Conference “Basic Income as a Prologue to Social Policy of the 21st Century”

On November 14, 2018, the Institute for Social Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, the European Dialogue Expert Group, and the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Russia held the International Scientific Conference “Basic Income as a Prologue to Social Policy of the 21st Century”.

The Conference was inogurated by Lilia Ovcharova, HSE Vice Rector, Evgeny Gontmakher, Coordinating Board Member of the European Dialogue Expert Group, and Peer Teschendorf, Director of the German Friedrich EbertFoundation in Russia. The discussions were joined by Alexandra Levitskaya, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation.

The debate on basic income has a long history but it is only now, in the 21st century that this discussion has become more pragmatic. A number of countries including Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, etc. are piloting state-provided income for a range of social groups. Those experts who study unconditional income have already moved far away from a primitive understanding of this phenomenon as a guaranteed payment to all members of society regardless of the level of their income, employment, health, and other factors. Although important, this is not the only functional component of the emerging social system that is still taking shape under the impact of fundamental factors. Social inequality, which widens as the economy keeps growing, disruptive technologies, which tend to quickly change labor markets and the employment structure, and the ageing population as well as increasing life expectancy, must also be taken into account.

The programm is available on the link.