A government pilot program is giving 2,000 artists $350 a week with no strings attached, allowing them to concentrate on creative pursuits. The Irish pilot project is the latest sign of growing international interest in universal basic income — when governments pay their citizens, employed or not, a lump sum each month. Catherine Martin, Ireland’s culture minister — a trained singer and former street busker said “Worrying about putting bread on the table really impacts artists’ creative juices," adding that, "This is about giving them space to work.”
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