The Herald
MORE than 90% of young care leavers who are eligible have signed up for the Basic Income pilot scheme in the first six months since it was launched.
Early feedback from care leavers point to the many ways in which the income is being used to enhance their lives, including learning how to manage their money and saving.
Although the pilot scheme is still in its infancy and will be rigorously assessed by an independently appointed evaluation team, one person working with care leavers said it had ‘empowered them to be able to make decisions they weren’t able to before’.
Emma Phipps-Magill, operational director at Voices from Care Cymru, has worked with care experienced young people for more than 30 years and said the pilot scheme was providing them with the opportunities to make positive life choices.
“The difference it has made to their lives has been giving them the opportunity to look at private housing accommodation instead of waiting on social housing lists, being able to travel and learn to drive so they can pass their driving test, and another could go to university, which they weren’t able to before,” she said.
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