Category: Basic Income

Finland Testing Universal Basic Income for Select Unemployed

Finland Testing Universal Basic Income for Select Unemployed

A street in Helsinki, Finland. (Photo: Flickr Creative Commons) Finland has become the first nation to pay some of its unemployed citizens an unconditional monthly universal basic income (UBI), a benefit that continues even after they find work.

Deutsche Welle reports beginning this month some 2,000 unemployed Finns will receive monthly payments of €560 ($584) with no strings attached. Recipients will pay no tax on the UBI, and the tax-free payments will continue even after they find jobs. They will be randomly chosen from a pool of 25-58 year-olds who received government unemployment benefits in November 2016.

Marjukka Turunen, head of […]

Universal Basic Income: Finland to Pay Some Residents $587 a Month

Universal Basic Income: Finland to Pay Some Residents $587 a Month

Finland is trying out a universal basic income experiment. Universal Basic Income: Finland to Pay Some Residents $587 a Month The universal basic income experiment will give 2,000 citizens in Finland $581.48 per month to live on. The members of the experiment range in age from 25 to 58. As part of the experiment, they no longer receive other social benefits from the country.

Finland’s universal basic income experiment will last for two years. The 2,000 people that are taking part in the experiment are unemployed. However, they will continue to receive the monthly payment even if they get a […]

Gwynne Dyer: Universal basic income could be next labour revolution

FILE – In this Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, file photo, President-elect Donald Trump and Andy Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, shake hands as Puzder leaves Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Trump has tapped Puzder as his pick to head the Labor Department. TrumpÄôs election as president has made many small business owners more upbeat about 2017. Many owners are more confident because their revenue looks to increase in 2017 due to the overall improving economy. TheyÄôre also optimistic because they expect Trump to deliver on promises to lower taxes and roll back regulations including […]

Finland experiments with unconditional income for jobless

Some 2,000 unemployed Finnish citizens will begin to receive a monthly stipend that is not tied to their employment status, marking one of the world’s first forays into universal basic income, which could have groundbreaking implications for how nations combat income inequality.

The randomly selected Finns will receive €560, or around $587, each month for the next two years – even if they find regular, steady jobs or rake in extra cash by participating in the gig economy. If the program proves successful, Finland may expand it to include all adults, believing the shift could mean long-term savings for the […]

Universal basic income scheme set to trial

Universal basic income scheme set to trial

14:15 Tuesday 03 January 2017 Scotland is set to pilot a radical scheme to give every citizen a universal basic income (UBI), regardless of whether they work or not.

Two Labour-run councils, Fife and Glasgow, are designing trial schemes following meetings held late last year.

What level the basic income would be set at is yet to be announced, but the councils are to go ahead with the pilots, subject to sufficient funding being secured.Under UBI, welfare benefits such as working tax credits, Jobseekers’ Allowance and state pensions are replaced by a single, unconditional flat-rate payment, regardless of whether […]

Finland Just Started Giving 2,000 People a Basic Income

Finland Just Started Giving 2,000 People a Basic Income

Finland just became the latest country in the world to trial a universal basic income. The new proposal, which involves 2,000 randomly chosen citizens receiving a basic amount of money for two years, could revolutionize work if proven successful, helping to prepare the world for robot automation.

“It’s highly interesting to see how it makes people behave,” Olli Kangas from government agency KELA said in a report published Tuesday . “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 […]

Finland Embarks On Two-Year Experiment Providing Unemployed With a Basic Monthly Income

Finland Embarks On Two-Year Experiment Providing Unemployed With a Basic Monthly Income

According to an Associated Press report, the ‘Universal Basic Income’ also called as ‘unconditional basic income’ (is a form of the welfare security system in which a country citizen receives guaranteed income from the government regardless of how much they work) continues to go viral.

Finland has launched its own version of the experiment; the European government is going to provide a guaranteed basic monthly income, amounting €560 ($587) to 2,000 randomly-picked jobless citizens. The trial will run for a two-year period.

Finland hopes the experiment would decrease the country’s 213,000 or nearly 8.1 percent unemployed citizens out of the 5.5 […]

Finland Trials Universal Basic Income on 2,000 Citizens

Finland Trials Universal Basic Income on 2,000 Citizens

A trial to give people a fixed income regardless of wealth or employment status has begun in Finland, in what is the world’s first large-scale experiment of universal basic income.

From January 1, 2017, to 2019, 2,000 participants will be paid 560 euros ($587) each month in the hope that it can reduce poverty, cut government red tape and better match societal changes, like increased automation in the workplace .

“It’s highly interesting to see how it makes people behave. Or, as some critics claim, make them lazier with the knowledge of getting a basic income without doing anything,” Olli Kangas, […]

First major country begins experiment giving free money to citizens

First major country begins experiment giving free money to citizens

Finland is offering free money to some citizens as part of an experiment aimed at cutting government red tape, reducing poverty and boosting employment.

Starting this Monday, the two-year trial will see 2,000 randomly-picked unemployed citizens receive €560 (£477/$587) each month, with no constraints on how to spend it.

The amount, which will be deducted from any benefits the citizens already receive, would keep coming even after citizens find employment.Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA, which is responsible for the country’s social benefits, said the scheme’s idea was to abolish the "disincentive problem" among the unemployed.The hope is that […]

Finland’s ‘basic income’ program means free cash for the unemployed, no strings attached

Finland's 'basic income' program means free cash for the unemployed, no strings attached

Finland’s ‘basic income’ program means free cash for the unemployed, no strings attachedby Circa News Economics & Business On Monday, Finland became the first European country to experiment with giving unemployed citizens a basic income. In short, they get cash for free.

The two-year experiment will give 2,000 randomly selected unemployed people 560 euros a month, or about $587. The average wage in Finland is about 3,500 euros ($3,625) per month.

Proponents say the cash will help the unemployed find different jobs or be more entrepreneurial, but critics say it will make them dependent on the cash.Olli Kangas, a member of […]