“Poverty directly affects people’s mental health”
- PhD in Sociology by Sergi Raventós Panyella (Barcelona, 1968) studied the positive effects of universal basic income (OEU) on mental health. He has been working for decades on the drive of the EU in Catalonia, together with other people, and since October 2021 he has been director of the Office of the Pilot Plan for the implementation of the EU in Catalonia. The plan progresses gradually, and taking advantage of the fact that it has come to Euskal Herria, we have talked to her about the effects poverty has on people and the role the EU can play.
Can the need for UEH be a symptom of the proletarian process of recent years?
When basic income surveys are conducted, it is becoming increasingly clear which sectors favor it: young people, precarious workers, students and women are the ones who have the greatest sympathy with the UEH. Moreover, people who work in skilled, stable and well-paid jobs are generally those who express their opposition to basic income.
However, these sectors or groups that see basic income better are becoming broader. The surveys conducted in Catalonia, the Basque Country and other places in Europe show that between 60% and 70% of the population are in favor of UEH, most of them being the ones we have mentioned: young people, women and precarious workers.
Are there other factors that have favored the UEH?
The automation process has generated many concerns in different areas. People are aware that there are works that are disappearing and in the pandemic many people have been afraid of losing their jobs. Robots don’t need holidays or get sick, at last and to the cabo.La economic
uncertainty that we live and our concerns for the future are driving a favorable attitude to basic income.
Suppose that the UEH is implemented throughout Catalonia, do you think the capital could oppose it? For example, through inflation.
Oligarchies will not help, that is clear. We know that money can be made to guarantee the UEH and that the numbers allow it, and we believe that this increases the bargaining power of the working class, for example, of saying no to a job that they don't want to do. And that's not something that capital likes.
"Young people, precarious workers, students and women are the ones who have the greatest sympathy with the EU"
However, a large sector of capital is aware that if people do not have money they cannot buy their products, and many capitalists are in favor of the OEU, such as Silicon Valley (California, USA). Moreover, in the Catalan region of Terrassa, the confederation of companies CECOT has opted for basic income.
It is clear that these models are minority, but they are realising that it is high time to provide capitalist economies with the necessary resources to ensure basic needs.
A criticism that is often made to them is that “bad works” will not do them nadie.Se is a phenomenon that is occurring today and that has been
known by some experts as a great resignation in the United States. People are leaving concrete jobs in search of better employment, and with a basic income, this phenomenon will certainly grow. Faced with this, what entrepreneurs have to do is raise wages. Hospitality entrepreneurs complain lately that they don't find workers in the US, and Joe Bidene told them: “Well, pay more.” It's very significant that Joe Biden has to say it.
How does poverty affect people's health? In the physique, for example?
Life expectancy changes dramatically from affluent neighborhoods to working-class neighborhoods. In Barcelona, for example, there are differences between subway stations between seven and nine years. For example, the life expectancy of people living on the street is about 50-60 years.
And in mental health?In
recent years, I've realized that basic income, and in general social protection, is very much related to mental health. And it's that having a guaranteed income or minimum economic security is necessary for people to be able to develop their lives in whatever way they want.
Precarious lives, in the long term, have a direct impact on mental health. Concrete work situations such as diversity of employment, alienating work, stressful work, overload and repetitive work are also influential. In addition, many studies affirm that living in poverty means losing cognitive abilities. If your only goal is to survive, you devote all of your mental energy to that, also called the tunnel effect.
Do Addictions and Disorders Increase?The area
of mental health is very broad and increases anxiety, depression and suicide. After the 2008 crisis, for example, in most countries in southern Europe the suicide rate increased.
Stress and anxiety influence each person in many ways, some resort to alcohol, drugs or gambling, and others develop eating disorders.
Lately, mental illnesses seem to have gained public awareness.
It was and remains a taboo subject, but the stigmatization of some mental illnesses is decreasing, such as stress and anxiety. So what is stress? It's an adaptive reaction of our body to danger and puts the body on alert. When this alert is permanent, erosion is taking place.
"You can take money to guarantee the UEH and the numbers allow it, and that increases the bargaining power of the working class, for example, of saying no to a job that doesn't want to do."
If it is for a particular factor, nothing happens. When we were hunters and an animal followed us, that alert helped us survive. Today, however, when a leopard is continuous every day, it has serious consequences. All of the global pilot schemes have shown that basic income helps to reduce the level of stress and has positive effects on mental health.
In periods cortos.En only two
or three years positive results have been observed. In the pilot test conducted in Canada, the researchers detected an interesting phenomenon: the number of hospital admissions in the regions that performed the test decreased. You should not be an expert in the matter to see that basic income increases peace of mind and helps prevent falls in situations of stress or anxiety.
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