| Author (Person) | Negrier-Pascaud, Mathilde |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Cardiff EDC |
| Series Details | April 2018 |
| Publication Date | 02/05/2018 |
| Content Type | News |
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Further information: The Finnish government turned down a request in the spring of 2018 for extra funding from Kela, the country’s social security agency, to expand the two-year pilot for a basic income scheme to a group of employees during 2018, and said payments to current participants would end in January 2019. The government has also introduced legislation making some benefits for unemployed people contingent on taking training or working at least 18 hours in three months. The pilot's full results would not be released until late 2019 or early 2020, once its impact on participants had been assessed. Background: Finland's two-year pilot scheme started in January 2017, making it the first European country to test an unconditional basic income. A random sample of 2,000 unemployed people aged 25 to 58 have been paid a monthly 560€, with no requirement to seek or accept employment. Any recipients who took a job continued to receive the same amount. When Finland launched the experiment its unemployment rate was 9.2 percent - higher than among its Nordic neighbours. That, and the complexity of the Finnish social benefits system, fuelled the calls for social security reforms, including the basic income pilot. The argument was that, if paid universally, basic income would provide a guaranteed safety net. Supporters said basic income would boost mobility in the labour market as people would still have an income between jobs. The idea of Universal Basic Income appealed both to the left, which hoped it could cut poverty and inequality, and to the right, which saw it as a possible route to a leaner, less bureaucratic welfare system. The purpose of the experiment was to study the effect of increasing cash incentives for work and simplifying the social security system on the employment rate of the study participants. The study also looks at the well-being of the participants and their experiences when communicating and conducting business with the authorities. It was hoped the study would shed light on policy issues such as whether an unconditional payment might reduce anxiety among recipients and allow the government to simplify a complex social security system that is struggling to cope with an insecure labour market. The Finnish finance minister told Finish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet he was looking into trialling alternative welfare schemes, including a universal credit system similar to that being introduced in the UK, when the basic income pilot ends. |
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| Countries / Regions | Finland |
