Austria is one of the richest countries in the European Union (2006: 4th place of all 27 EU-countries). This is one side of the social situation in Austria. The others are:
- The distribution of the produced welfare takes place more and more obvious on behalf of upper income groups. Not only the inequality of shifting within the groups of dependent employees grew, but also between income from dependent gainful activities and income, on the one hand, and properties and activities on the other.
- The risk of poverty and manifested poverty are over the last ten years quite constant (between 11 and 14%) and this affects also at- risk groups: single parents, families with 3 and more children, people with migration background, people with low educational level and unemployed. The current poverty line of income lies in Austria at approximately 913 Euro monthly income (= 60% of the average income).
- Securing one's livelihood with gainful employment is more and more fragile. The group of the so called “Working poor” has about 280.000 persons.
Social insurance benefits, like unemployment benefit (55% of net income, average unemployment benefit: 770 Euro, 12 times per year) and social benefits (average benefit: 650 Euro, 12 times per year), doesn’t know a financial bottom line, this means that people with financial distress from more incomplete employment histories and jobs with lousy pay are taken to unemployment – first of all to long-term unemployment. In addition the character of the insurance benefit doesn’t protect from strong restrictions of the labour market policies which must be met. For example, a missed control date at the job centre can result in a complete lock of unemployment benefits. Furthermore is the title to social benefits connected to the income of the household and not to the personal income.
Transfers like children's allowance or social benefits lies also in the high under the poverty line of income and depend on special life situations respectively the need must be proven (high at the moment between 450 and 540 Euro, 12 times per year). The social benefit, in Austria not very concurrently called “lowest social net”, lies under the responsibility of the state and municipalities. It has a strong stigmatizing and because of the strong restrictions (proofing of property and estate, omission of appropriateness for the labour market) further a poverty consolidating character. A reform project of the acting government to improve social benefits, which some social organisations hopeful considered, has just failed. And this, while the proper Minister for Social Affairs is a social democrat and the government is leaded by a social democratic Federal Chancellor.
It seems, that the strong increasing of unemployment caused by the economic crises and the debit of the federal budget caused by measures for the economy and security packages for banks to fight against the economic crisis, reduced the consensus for measures against poverty, but increased the readiness for “workfare programms”.
The discussion about Basic Income
After a first very intensive discussion about Basic Income at the end of the 1980s and in the begin of the 1990s, there was low interest for about one decade. This changed after the turn of the millennium considerably.
Since 2002 Austria has the “Basic Income Network and social solidarity – BIEN Austria” (ExpertInnennetzwerk) with a regular Newsletter and the website www.grundeinkommen.at. After that a group about Basic Income was within ATTAC founded, as well as 2007 “Round Table Basic Income” in Vienna and two federal states. Since 2004 there is a close collaboration between the Basic Income Networks and ATTAC in Germany and Switzerland to intensify the publication work: 2005 there was the first German speaking Congress on Basic Income in Vienna and the first common “Week of Basic Income” in September 2008. At the moment there is a signature campaign for introducing an unconditional, livelihood securing Basic Income in Austria (www.pro-grundeinkommen.at)
Understanding of Basic Income
In contradistinction to the German Discussion, in Austria are not as many different models for Basic Income discussed. There are two political parties, which are not in the Parliament, for a Basic Income: The communistic party of Austria (KPÖ) and the Liberal Forum (LIF). While the KPÖ next a material, livelihood securing payment wants also an entitlement for a “basic energy security”, LIF stands for the substitution of the state-funded infrastructure, like free schools.
The spectrum of positions within the civil society, which advocates for socio-political reforms, reaches from the maintenance of a means-tested basic security with a simultaneous abolishment of sanctions in the area of labour market administration (Conference of poverty), over the desire to connect Basic Income with ecological taxation of resources (alternative and green unions) to the view of a Basic Income as first step on the way to substitute the capitalistic system by a system of solidary economy.
The Basic Income network advocates for the introduction of a Basic Income in a high of 70% of the average income (at the moment about 1000 Euro. The central criteria are:
- unconditional (no compulsion to work, no compulsion to charitable work and no gender conformal behaviour)
- universal (for all, who permanently and legally stay in the country)
- individual (not connected to the income of households)
- livelihood securing.
Vienna, August 2009, Margit Appel
