Universal Basic Income

According to a definition offered by Philippe Van Parijs (2004), a basic income is 'income paid by a political community to all its members on an individual basis, without means test or work requirements'. It is paid in cash rather than in kind by a government from publicly controlled resources. There is no exact GDP per capita ratio or figure regarding the basic income amount.

The technical and digital revolution as well as globalisation have been opening up a gap between total output and the income earned by workers. The prospects of a sizeable share of the working population being made redundant due to automation attracted attention to the concept of Basic Income.

Several countries in Europe have discussed whether to introduce this concept and possible ways of testing it on a regional or local level. The European Union has also hosted or co-financed several conferences and workshops, for major stakeholders from business, trade unions, interest groups and networks. Its institutions have discussed in different instances the impact of potential EU-wide minimum incomes.

+ EESC conference on Universal Basic Income, April 2014
+ EPRS Briefing | Basic income: Arguments, evidence and prospects, September 2016

Finland:
+ Finland to test unconditional basic income for Finns in 2017, December 2015
+ Basic income experiment in Finland, February 2016
+ Finland trials basic income for unemployed, 1 January 2017

Austria:
+ Austria: Social Benefits, Minimum income and Basic income, July 2016

United Kingdom:
+ Labour taking a close look at universal basic income, June 2016

Switzerland:
+ Swiss to vote on the introduction of a universal 'basic income', February 2016
+ Basic income plan rejected by Swiss voters, 5 June 2016

The Netherlands:
+ Dutch municipalities announce experiments with 'basic income', August 2015

Spain:
+ Analysis of the hypothetical implementation of basic income system, February 2015

• Primary Source

Website: Basic Income Earth Network http://basicincome.org/

Website: Unconditional Basic Income Europe http://basicincome-europe.org/ubie/

Website: European Minimum Income Network https://emin-eu.net/

ESO: Find further information on this topic http://www.europeansources.info/advSearchLink?keyword=basic%20income%20&searchTerm

Website: The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) https://www.eapn.eu/

The Conversation: Tag: Basic income https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/basic-income-24031

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