[ExI] Basic Income - Basic Housing?

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Wed Apr 2 13:50:29 UTC 2014


We have discussed in the past that as robots cause mass unemployment,
then governments might provide everyone with a basic income (or social
security) to enable them to survive.

I have just read about a new twist that benefits society.

Quote:
The best way to stop homelessness is mindbogglingly simple: Give them homes.

<http://www.fastcoexist.com/3028384/housing-the-homeless-saves-money-heres-the-research-that-proves-it>

Quote:
Providing the homeless with a place to live may seem like a high cost
for taxpayers. But the alternative, it turns out, is more costly, new
research shows. Subsidized accommodation could actually be a bargain
for the public, in purely economic terms.
That's because living on the street exposes men and women to higher
health risks, so they're more likely to use expensive hospital
services. Moreover, the homeless tend to get arrested more often than
the rest of the population, which generates additional expense in the
criminal justice system.

The research looked at Moore Place, an 85-apartment building that
opened in Charlotte, North Carolina, in early 2012. The University of
North Carolina Charlotte tracked a group of homeless a year before
entering the facility, and then a year afterwards, and recorded a
dramatic drop in health care use and jail time.

Total hospital bills fell from $2.5 million before to $760,000
afterwards, while the number of E.R. visits dropped from 571 to 124.
Likewise, there was a 78% reduction in arrests and a 84% fall in jail
stays.
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BillK



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