Finland to trial basic income for the unemployed
Two-year experiment will see out-of-work Finns receive €560 each month – even if they find a job
Finland is to replace unemployment benefits with a guaranteed basic income in a trial the government hopes will end the cycle of welfare dependence said to keep people out of work.
In the first European test of its kind, out-of-work Finns will receive a monthly €560 (£473) payment, equal to the current level of unemployment benefit but with no conditions attached. It will continue to be paid even after receiving a job.
A random selection choose 2,000 people to take part in the two-year experiment, which will test one of the key theories behind basic income - that it can reduce the "disincentive problem" whereby those on welfare stand to gain little, or even lose money, by taking employment.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"It's highly interesting to see how it makes people behave," Olli Kangas, research director at government benefit agency Kela, told the Associated Press.
"Will this lead them to boldly experiment with different kinds of jobs? Or, as some critics claim, make them lazier with the knowledge of getting a basic income without doing anything?"
Finland's current social security system is "generous and complex", says The Guardian, which perhaps accounts for basic income's unusually high degree of popularity in the country - polling showed the idea was welcomed by a majority of cross-party voters.
Prime Minister Juha Sipila's centre-right administration has embraced an experimental approach to tackling the country's unemployment rate, which has remained at 8.1 per cent for more than a year.
In his end of year address, Sipila said that with "no additional funding available" to tackle growing wealth disparity, solutions would be sought in "major reform projects" of existing institutions. The basic income trial is among 20 large-scale social experiments planned over the coming months.
"Basic income has been envisioned as a solution for rising inequality, exacerbated by the explosion of robotics and the automatisation of routine work," says Nordic think-tank Demos Helsinki.
Trials are also being discussed in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Oakland, California.
Critics dismissed basic income as an unworkable fantasy.
In an article in The Independent, Emran Mian, director of the Social Market Foundation, says the conditions needed to make the system viable render it indistinguishable from the current welfare system.
He writes: "When a sensible proponent of the universal basic income starts to get into detailed issues of design, their deceptively simple concept collapses into the usual messiness of government policy."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Big Tech critic Brendan Carr is Trump's FCC pick
In the Spotlight The next FCC commissioner wants to end content moderation practices on social media sites
By David Faris Published
-
ATACMS, the long-range American missiles being fired by Ukraine
The Explainer President Joe Biden has authorized their use for the first time in the war
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The bacterial consequences of hurricanes
Under the radar Floodwaters are microbial hotbeds
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 March
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will mounting discontent affect Iran election?
Today's Big Question Low turnout is expected in poll seen as crucial test for Tehran's leadership
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sweden clears final NATO hurdle with Hungary vote
Speed Read Hungary's parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden's accession to NATO
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published