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Finland becomes the first European country to pilot a basic income scheme. Could unconditional monthly sums curb mass unemployment and create more equal societies?

The Finnish government has launched a two-year experiment offering a guaranteed sum of €560 (£475) per month to 2,000 unemployed Finns. It hopes the pilot, which began on 1 January, will reduce bureaucracy and poverty, and boost employment. For the randomly selected participants, the cash sums will replace their existing social benefits and will continue to be paid even if they take up jobs. The current Finnish system can discourage people from finding jobs because even […]

Full Post at www.positive.news

Finland has begun delivering unconditional payments to unemployed citizens to test whether providing a universal basic income can help boost employment. Euro banknotes – Photo: iStock For the next two years, Finland’s social security agency Kela will deliver monthly payments of €560 ($584) to 2,000 randomly selected unemployed residents between the ages of 25 and 58.

The pilot will serve as the latest experiment in universal basic income (UBI) – an idea that is increasingly gaining traction as automation and technology threaten to displace much of the workforce into the future.

However, amid growing support UBI also faces much criticism, with […]

Full Post at www.publicfinanceinternational.org

In 2017, Finland, the Netherlands, Ontario, and even Oakland, California, will all turn into mini-laboratories for basic income .

A universal basic income is a social safety net of sorts. The government cuts everybody a monthly check to meet basic needs, no conditions. Unstable jobs and automation are among the forces driving these pilot programs, but they also highlight a growing movement to make government more experimental.

Matt Zwolinski , a professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego and a libertarian advocate of basic income, said he’s a big fan of social science experiments. “Even with policies I […]

Full Post at www.nwptv.org

On January 2nd, the Sociale Verzekeringsbank or Social Insurance Bank, transferred two payments of €198.38 into my bank account. One for each of my two boys, both of whom are under the age of six. The extra cash appears like magic every quarter (January, April, July and October), courtesy of SVB with a simple one-word note: kinderbijslag or child benefit.

Every family in the Netherlands with kids under the age of eighteen is entitled to the child benefit. The universal kinderbijslag is independent of the parents’ income. The amount increases when children get older to accommodate for extra expenses – […]

Full Post at www.findingdutchland.com

The Narendra Modi government is coming up with a report which is likely to endorse giving all Indian citizens a guaranteed Universal Basic Income (UBI). Thomas Colson wrote in Business Insider (BI) today (4 January) that the said report will be released this month. BI talked to Prof Guy Standing, one of the leading advocates of UBI, and he says the report by the government will term the idea as feasible and “basically the way forward.”

A pilot project in eight villages of Madhya Pradesh that Standing was closely associated with provided every person with a guaranteed basic income for […]

Full Post at swarajyamag.com

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Full Post at www.dailystar.co.uk

A scheme to give every citizen a universal basic income (UBI) is set to be piloted by two Scottish councils as they have started to investigate trial schemes this year.

The initiative, in which benefits will be replaced by a single, unconditional payment regardless of earned income, is currently being considered by Glasgow and Fife councils following meetings held late last year.

The councils have not yet announced at which level the basic income will be set but will proceed with the pilots subject to securing sufficient government funding.“Like a lot of people, I was interested in the idea [of the […]

Full Post at www.publicsectorexecutive.com

Around 1,800 boxes of data from a 1970’s basic income experiment can be found at Library and Archives Canada in Winnipeg. – In 2017, Finland, the Netherlands, Ontario, and even Oakland, California, will all turn into mini-laboratories for basic income .

A universal basic income is a social safety net of sorts. The government cuts everybody a monthly check to meet basic needs, no conditions. Unstable jobs and automation are among the forces driving these pilot programs, but they also highlight a growing movement to make government more experimental.

Matt Zwolinski , a professor of philosophy at the University of […]

Full Post at www.marketplace.org