The EU-funded B-MINCOME project arises from Barcelona's decision to implement a guaranteed minimum income (GMI) for people living in deprived parts of the city. The district of Eix Besòs has been chosen as the target area for the project under which 1 000 households receive the GMI on a trial basis. The aim is to analyse the costs of different policies aimed at fighting poverty so as to develop more efficient welfare services for a city where inequality is growing.
Guaranteed minimum income trialled in Barcelona
- 22 November 2018
There is a municipal commitment to implement a guaranteed minimum income to complement the income of Barcelona residents, raising them above the at-risk-of-poverty threshold and reducing inequality levels. It should provide households and individuals with security, freedom and greater responsibility as a lever in overcoming poverty. B-MINCOME, as a pilot project, will compare the effects of this income with different conditions and modalities on mitigating poverty and in improving inclusion of the people receiving it.
Municipal social services began by selecting some 4 000 households eligible to take part in B-MINCOME and informing them about the opportunity. Participation was voluntary and 2 000 households were chosen and sorted into two groups of 1 000, with each group comprising around 2 000 adults.
One group receives the GMI, while the other is used as a measure for gauging its effectiveness against existing social support policies, in terms of improving conditions for people on benefits.
The amount of support for each household is calculated according to indicators, such as basic outgoings like energy and water bills, rent or mortgage repayments, communal expenses, property tax and family size. A community currency is also being introduced, with 25 % of the GMI paid in this currency. The aim is to find out to what extent such currencies benefit economies of deprived areas.
Conditions for support
Eligibility criteria include at least one household member being aged 25-60 on 31 July 2017, and all members living together throughout the project, having been registered as Barcelona residents since June 2015 and committing to live in Eix Besòs from October 2017 to September 2019. The households must already be social service users and accept the conditions for receiving the GMI, such as monitoring to compile information, provision of details of additional income and installation of an app on their phones to manage project activities.
To get a clearer idea of the effectiveness of the measures, further conditions for receipt of the support are included, but these vary between households. For 275 households receipt is conditional on participation in one of four inclusion activities, whereas for another 275, this is not imposed. For 200 households, the level of support is progressively reduced and eliminated when they receive extra income that takes them above a set threshold, while for a further 250, extra income only partially reduces the level of support.
Inclusion activities
The inclusion activities are designed to help people get out of poverty by developing entrepreneurship skills for different areas of the social economy. A 12-month training programme, supplemented by employment plans, has been devised for unemployed people of working age in 150 households. This is preceded by a 3-month vocational training course.
Under a social economy programme for 100 households, participants get help with creating community interest projects or taking part in existing actions. The housing renovation programme enables 100 property-owning households to rent out rooms so as to increase their income. B-MINCOME provides them with a non-refundable sum of around EUR 3 600 each to improve their homes and meet requirements for renting. Finally, a community participation programme allows 200 household members to take part in activities to increase their relationship, project development and social responsibility skills, as well as their employability.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “B-MINCOME - Combining guaranteed minimum income and active social policies in deprived urban areas” is EUR 6 200 000, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 4 854 088 through the “Urban Innovative Actions” Initiative for the 2014-2020 programming period.