Positive Thinking

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Positive Thinking: Levelling the Playing Field

Levelling the Playing Field

BBC Radio 4 - Positive Thinking, Levelling the Playing Field

Is a means tested pot of money on turning 18 the answer to levelling the playing field?

Sangita Myska meets Professor Darrick Hamilton, a US academic who thinks Baby Bonds hold the answer to solving wealth inequality.

Sangita Myska goes in search of the innovators with big solutions to some of our most intractable problems.

Existing inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic, so how can we level the playing field so that all children have an equal chance? According to Professor Darrick Hamilton, the answer is Baby Bonds, a means tested lump sum of up to $60,000 which all children are entitled to when they reach adulthood.

In the US the idea is gaining traction and some states are exploring implementing their own versions of Baby Bonds. But could the idea make a difference here?

Our expert panel:

Dr Zubaida Haque, Executive Director of The Equality Trust
Tunde Banjoko, founder of charity Making the Leap and The Social Mobility Awards
Dr Rajiv Prabhakar, Senior Lecturer in Personal Finance at the Open University, and expert on financial inclusion

Producer: Ellie Bury

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Big ideas that might solve some of the biggest problems facing Britain today.

Positive Thinking takes a deep dive into some of the biggest problems facing Britain today - and meets the people whose big ideas might solve them.

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