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posted by on Wednesday January 04 2017, @10:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the now-we-wait-and-watch dept.

Basic Income is a subject that regularly surfaces in Soylent discussions, so here's a story about Finland's impending experiment with it:

Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587 US), in a unique social experiment which is hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.

Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA, which is responsible for the country's social benefits, said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1.

Those chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive.

The average private sector income in Finland is 3,500 euros per month, according to official data.

Also at The Guardian and swissinfo.ch.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @08:57PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @08:57PM (#449524)

    > I spent a few years self-employed. My employee worked his arse off, but my employer never had enough money to pay the employee what he deserved.

    Easy to explain...small businesses take 5-10 years to establish a stable customer base. My tiny company, me and one contractor (in a high tax state) have been at it for 20 years now and we do just fine. We put in the hours, but not to the point of killing ourselves. We are not getting rich enough for a private jet, but we both own our houses and are putting money away for a rainy day. In the good years I take home more. In the slow years my contractor may be a little ahead of me--I'll fund "internal R&D" on speculation that customers might be interested when work picks back up.