Finland is trying out a universal basic income experiment.
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 job. There are also possible plans to expand the test in 2018 with more citizens and different payment amounts.
The idea behind the universal basic income experiment is that it will hopefully promote citizens in Finland to get jobs. This is due to them keeping the monthly pay despite getting a job. The argument is that some citizens don’t get jobs because it causes their other social benefits from the government to decrease afterwards, reports CNBC.
There are also arguments that a universal basic income could help employees that lose their jobs to automation. Robert Skidelsky a political economy professor at the University of Warwick, claims that as much as a third of all jobs in the western world will be automated in the next 20 years.
“A universal basic income would provide a much more secure income base in an age of deepening economic and social insecurity and unpredictable work patterns,” economists Howard Reed and Stewart Lansley told CNBC.
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