Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system - BBC News. The Finnish government is considering a pilot project that would see the state pay people a basic income regardless of whether they work.
The details of how much the basic income might be and who would be eligible for it are yet to be announced, but already there is widespread interest in how it might work. Prime Minister Juha Sipila has praised the idea. "For me, a basic income means simplifying the social security system," he said. The scheme is of particular interest to people without jobs. In Finland, they now number 280,000 - 10% of the workforce. With unemployment an increasing concern, four out of five Finns now are in favour of a basic income. Basic income Paid without any need for workPaid irrespective of any income from other sourcesAdditional income subject to income tax Finland to initiate pilot projectDutch city of Utrecht to experiment with basic income this autumnUK Green Party advocated similar "Citizen's Income" at 2015 election "A basic income?
Finland labour market. Parody and Pastiche. Is the left's big new idea a 'right to be lazy'? Image copyright iStock Why are so many on the left now arguing that the state should pay everyone a universal basic income?
Imagine this. You can sit back, relax, turn on the telly, put your feet up. And the government will pay you for it without any of that tedious job-seeking and signing on business. It sounds like a fantasy. "If you look at the history of the labour movement, the very first thing that the labour movement tried to do was to reduce the working week," says City University politics lecturer Nick Srnicek.
"I think it would be an immense testament to society if we could all be lazy. " The policy behind "the right to be lazy" is an idea called a universal basic income: a flat payment to all adults regardless of circumstances. Universal basic income It's an idea some trace back to the 18th Century revolutionary Thomas Paine. "I think the universal basic income is an admirable idea because it thinks big about our society," he says. Image copyright EPA Image copyright Getty Images.
BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, Money for Nothing. Think tank floats 'basic income' idea for all citizens. Image copyright Getty Images A think tank is calling for fundamental change to the system of tax and benefits in the UK.
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) is recommending a basic universal income. In a new report, the author calls the approach the best alternative "to help people improve their own lives". The RSA estimates that its proposal would cost about an extra 1% of annual national income (GDP). The idea is in principle fairly straightforward: a standard payment is made to every citizen. The basic income for people aged between 25 and 65 would in this example be £3,692. There would be a basic income for children too: for the first child it would be higher than the working age adult basic until they reach school age.
Radical change The proposal does involve some cost, but it does replace many existing benefits and it would eliminate the personal income tax allowance. Some cities in the Netherlands are also looking at the idea. Welfare trap. BBC Radio 4 - Money Box, Money Box Live - A Basic Income. BBC iPlayer - Newsnight - 07/12/2015 (20.15 mins) Newsnight - basic income. BBC World Service - Newshour Extra, Money for Nothing?