To Lift Quality of Life and Economy, Finland Champions Universal Basic
Income
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/to_lift_quality_of_life_and_economy_finl
and_champions_20151206/
Posted on Dec 6, 2015
By Jon Queally / Common Dreams
kozirsky / Shutterstock
As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of
Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic
permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month.
The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is
an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and
economists as a solutioncounter-intuitive as it may first appear at
firstthat actually decreases government expenditures and unemployment while
boosting both productivity and quality of life.
For me, a basic income means simplifying the social security system,
Finlands Prime Minister Juha Sipilä said last week.
Though it would not be implemented until later in 2016, recent polling shows
that nearly 70 percent of the Finnish people support the idea.
According to Bloomberg, the basic income proposal, put forth by the Finnish
Social Insurance Institution, known as KELA, would see every adult citizen
receive 800 euros ($876) a month, tax free, that would replace existing
benefits. Full implementation would be preceded by a pilot stage, during
which the basic income payout would be 550 euros and some benefits would
remain.
As reporting by the UK-based Metro notes:
While it may seem like a standard basic income would encourage people not to
work, its actually designed to do the opposite.
Under the current welfare system, a person gets less in benefits if they
take up temporary, low paying or part-time work which can result in an
overall loss of income.
However, a basic rate of pay would allow people to take up these jobs with
no personal cost.
And the idea, according to Irish writer and researcher Anne B. Ryan, author
of the book Enough Is Plenty, is one that deserves much more serious
attention and consideration that it currently receives. In this primer on
the idea, Ryan explains the essential features and positive benefits of a
universal basic income:
Basic income is a regular and unconditional distribution of money by the
state to every member of society, whether they engage in paid work or not.
Basic income is always tax-free and it replaces social welfare payments,
child benefit and the state pension as we currently know them. It also
extends to all those who currently receive no income from the state.
Ideally, a basic income would be sufficient for each person to have a frugal
but decent lifestyle without supplementary income from paid work.
Basic income would bring into the security net all those not served by the
current system: casual and short-contract workers who get no or limited sick
pay, holiday pay or pension rights; self-employed people and business
owners; those doing valuable unpaid work, including care, which adds value
to society and economy. Basic income would increase everybodys capacity to
cope with financial shocks and uncertainties and would improve general
quality of life, while supporting many different kinds of work, with or
without pay.
Currently, those receiving welfare are badly served by the system: if they
take paid work, especially low-paid or temporary, they often lose out
financially, in a benefits trap. With basic income, there would always be
a financial incentive for people to earn a taxable income, should a job be
available. Employers would also welcome the ending of the benefits trap.
As Quartz reports, previous experiments with a basic income have shown
promising results:
Everyone in the Canadian town of Dauphin was given a stipend from 1974 to
1979, and though there was a drop in working hours, this was mainly because
men spent more time in school and women took longer maternity leaves.
Meanwhile, when thousands of unemployed people in Uganda were given
unsupervised grants of twice their monthly income, working hours increased
by 17% and earnings increased by 38%.
According to Ryan, advocates of the basic income model will likely be
well-served by additional and larger experiments with its implementation.
Basic income is not a panacea; it will not solve all our social, ecological
or debt problems, nor does it claim to, she wrote. But it creates the
conditions for creative solutions, rather than blocking them, as much of our
present social security system does.
http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/
To Lift Quality of Life and Economy, Finland Champions Universal Basic
Income
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/to_lift_quality_of_life_and_economy_finl
and_champions_20151206/
Posted on Dec 6, 2015
By Jon Queally / Common Dreams
kozirsky / Shutterstock
As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of
Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic
permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month.
The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is
an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and
economists as a solutioncounter-intuitive as it may first appear at
firstthat actually decreases government expenditures and unemployment while
boosting both productivity and quality of life.
For me, a basic income means simplifying the social security system,
Finlands Prime Minister Juha Sipilä said last week.
Though it would not be implemented until later in 2016, recent polling shows
that nearly 70 percent of the Finnish people support the idea.
According to Bloomberg, the basic income proposal, put forth by the Finnish
Social Insurance Institution, known as KELA, would see every adult citizen
receive 800 euros ($876) a month, tax free, that would replace existing
benefits. Full implementation would be preceded by a pilot stage, during
which the basic income payout would be 550 euros and some benefits would
remain.
As reporting by the UK-based Metro notes:
While it may seem like a standard basic income would encourage people not to
work, its actually designed to do the opposite.
Under the current welfare system, a person gets less in benefits if they
take up temporary, low paying or part-time work which can result in an
overall loss of income.
However, a basic rate of pay would allow people to take up these jobs with
no personal cost.
And the idea, according to Irish writer and researcher Anne B. Ryan, author
of the book Enough Is Plenty, is one that deserves much more serious
attention and consideration that it currently receives. In this primer on
the idea, Ryan explains the essential features and positive benefits of a
universal basic income:
Basic income is a regular and unconditional distribution of money by the
state to every member of society, whether they engage in paid work or not.
Basic income is always tax-free and it replaces social welfare payments,
child benefit and the state pension as we currently know them. It also
extends to all those who currently receive no income from the state.
Ideally, a basic income would be sufficient for each person to have a frugal
but decent lifestyle without supplementary income from paid work.
Basic income would bring into the security net all those not served by the
current system: casual and short-contract workers who get no or limited sick
pay, holiday pay or pension rights; self-employed people and business
owners; those doing valuable unpaid work, including care, which adds value
to society and economy. Basic income would increase everybodys capacity to
cope with financial shocks and uncertainties and would improve general
quality of life, while supporting many different kinds of work, with or
without pay.
Currently, those receiving welfare are badly served by the system: if they
take paid work, especially low-paid or temporary, they often lose out
financially, in a benefits trap. With basic income, there would always be
a financial incentive for people to earn a taxable income, should a job be
available. Employers would also welcome the ending of the benefits trap.
As Quartz reports, previous experiments with a basic income have shown
promising results:
Everyone in the Canadian town of Dauphin was given a stipend from 1974 to
1979, and though there was a drop in working hours, this was mainly because
men spent more time in school and women took longer maternity leaves.
Meanwhile, when thousands of unemployed people in Uganda were given
unsupervised grants of twice their monthly income, working hours increased
by 17% and earnings increased by 38%.
According to Ryan, advocates of the basic income model will likely be
well-served by additional and larger experiments with its implementation.
Basic income is not a panacea; it will not solve all our social, ecological
or debt problems, nor does it claim to, she wrote. But it creates the
conditions for creative solutions, rather than blocking them, as much of our
present social security system does.
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