The government announced earlier this summer that Islanders would be gifted £100 each in September to spend locally as part of a £150 million Covid crisis recovery plan to help stimulate the economy.
And Citizens Advice chief executive Malcolm Ferey believes that the pre-paid cards will be a ‘powerful and useful way’ in anonymously tracking how people are using the money. He also added that the data could lead to a discussion about a radical overhaul of the Island’s benefits model.
He said: ‘The proposal to pay every citizen in Jersey a £100 card or voucher is a fantastic opportunity to learn exactly how this type of economic stimulus works in real life.
‘The anonymised data collected from this scheme will be such a powerful and useful way of tracking how people use this money. Will local businesses benefit and, if so, which sectors will benefit most? Will charities indirectly benefit by recipients choosing to make a donation after spending the allotted funds?’
Mr Ferey noted that the scheme may lead to a discussion around ideas such as a universal basic income, where a government provides just enough to cover the basic cost of living and provide financial security to all citizens.
‘For years governments across the globe have considered the concept of a universal basic income and some jurisdictions, notably Alaska, have implemented schemes that pay out to the whole community, the overriding principle being that people can best decide what to do with this money rather than leave it to the government,’ said Mr Ferey.
‘Universal basic income would be an amount sufficient to secure basic needs as a permanent earnings floor no one could fall beneath, and would replace many of the temporary benefits, which are given only in case of emergency, or to those who successfully pass the applied qualification tests for work and income.
‘Universal basic income would be a promise of equal opportunity, not equal outcome, with a new starting level set above the poverty line.
‘The decision to make our £100 payable to the whole community and the subsequent analysis of the data collected by tracking this spend, may just prove to be the lightbulb moment that builds the modelling and provides the opportunity for our benefits system to move in a new direction.’
