Big Issue
In 2022, Wales launched the UK’s first basic income pilot for care leavers – an ambitious experiment offering more than 600 young people £1,600 a month (£1,290 after tax), with no conditions attached. The two-year scheme, available for those who turned 18 between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023, aimed to address the poverty and instability that often define the transition from the care system to adulthood.
For 20-year-old Annalise from Caerphilly, who had her son just three months before the pilot began, the money brought security and dignity. “I was able to buy him his formula, toys and new clothes without worrying,” she told Big Issue. “Knowing I could help him like that, and him not watching his mam struggle to put food on the table, honestly, felt like a blessing.”
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