Posted on 02/08/2019 7:19:39 PM PST by Hadean
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A nationwide experiment with basic income in Finland has not increased employment among those participating in the two-year trial, but their general well-being seems to have increased, a report said Friday.
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, or Kela, said "it was not yet possible to draw any firm conclusions" from the first half of the experiment, where about 2,000 randomly selected, unemployed people aged 25-58 got tax-free income of 560 euros ($636) a month with no questions asked.
Finland is looking into ways to reshape its social security system and became in January 2017 the first European country to launch the trial, which will end in 2020.
Critics say universal basic income reduces incentives for people to look for work.
Proponents say it can empower people to start new businesses, knowing that they would continue to receive monthly income no matter how well their new venture does. It can also encourage people to try a new job without the fear of losing their unemployment checks or having to go through the paperwork of reapplying for benefits.
"Earlier, I didn't accept all small jobs out of fear of losing my benefits and having to reapply for them," said writer Tuomas Muraja as he was on his way to a sauna before heading out for an evening at the opera.
"I feel much more secure now that short-term jobs no longer reduce my benefits or delay their payment."
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Feeling good about useless, failed, and even harmful programs is what liberalism is all about.
“but their general well-being seems to have increased, a report said Friday.”
It’s good to know they have their priorities straight. Get it over with and let the ragheads conquer these clowns..
Many of these people, and here in the USA too, they are “unemployed” but working under the table in either illegal industries or they work under the table.
So, sure, they love getting something for nothing, they are rewarded for being bums or tax cheats. What a country!
Experimenting with this policy on 2,000 people is meaningless. Try it nationwide and let’s see how happy people are in ten years.
And when 100% of the population is on this and only 10% half ass it into “work”?
Well why cant 100% of people be on this? Its only fair.
Wheres the money coming from then.
How are they gonna trade with other countries for goods?
I mean because Finland is such a massive economic powerhouse now.
When it has clearly failed, they will want to do it even more.
Minority women in the US with college degrees in law, women’s’ studies and sociology will urge adoption here, too.
Did they select 2,000 randomly selected employed people to jack up their income taxes by an average of 560 euros per month? The money has to come from somewhere and since they are part of the Eurozone they can't just print it to pay for their social programs through inflation.
Maybe in Finland it’s cold enough to do this without attracting the entire third world $h!thole population, but I doubt it. Somebody still has to pay for it. Choosing poverty indicates a spiritual crisis, not an economic problem.
If not for the weather Finland would have been probably the best country in the World for overall quality of life. And that while being far from being nominally the wealthiest. Last thing they need are social experiments. You better work to keep that you already has.
“Finland has it all!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baHsoEAAMZU
It’s amazing how much money a country can fritter away on useless projects.. when another country pays for their nuclear umbrella.
It fact they are self-reliant on defence. Not a part of any alliance.
Wasn't that a part of their "Peace Agreement" with the Soviet Union, that they couldn't join any alliance?
From haves/have-nots to have-tos/will-nots
Jeeeez if the founding fathers only knew about Finland!!
Peace agreement is barely relevant, just like Soviet Union now.
And for the ones who are self-starters, once they figure out that they’ll get their income no matter what they do, they’d have no incentive to try to make their newly created businesses run better.
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