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posted by martyb on Thursday January 20 2022, @01:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the of-course-nobody-ever-gets-bored dept.

Study: Basic income would not reduce people's willingness to work:

A basic income would not necessarily mean that people would work less. This is the conclusion of a series of behavioral experiments by cognitive psychologist Fenna Poletiek, social psychologist Erik de Kwaadsteniet and cognitive psychologist Bastiaan Vuyk. They also found indications that people with a basic income are more likely to find a job that suits them better.

The psychologists received a grant from the FNV union to research the behavioral effects of a basic income. They simulated the reward structure of different forms of social security in an experiment. "We got people to do a task on a computer," says De Kwaadsteniet. "In multiple rounds, which represented the months they had to work, they did a boring task in which they had to put points on a bar. The more of these they did, the more money they earned."

The psychologists researched three different conditions: no social security, a conditional benefits system and an unconditional basic income. De Kwaadsteniet: "In the condition without social security, the test participants didn't receive a basic sum. In the benefits condition they received a basic sum, which they lost as soon as they started working. In the basic income condition they received the same basic sum but didn't lose this when they started work."

The basic income did not cause a reduction in the participants' willingness to work and efforts, say the psychologists. Nor did their salary expectations increase. "In the discussion on a basic income, it's sometimes said that people will sit around doing nothing if you give them free money," says Poletiek, who saw no indications of such a behavioral effect.

What would you do if you were to receive a basic income?


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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 20 2022, @06:32PM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 20 2022, @06:32PM (#1214260) Journal

    Actually, I remember a couple of checks from the government during Trump's days in office. In fact, I wrote a comment that it was nice, but I didn't really need it. I opined that maybe my money, and the money given to people in similar financial situations might have been better spent if it were given to people in more dire straits than I was. My sons and grandchildren ultimately got that money - Trump might have won more votes if that money had gone directly to the most needy people.

    Yeah, Trump gave a lot to big corporations, but he actually did send me a a financial bailout.

    Maybe you didn't get it because you're a Democrat? Did only Republicans and Independents get that money?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 20 2022, @09:37PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 20 2022, @09:37PM (#1214354)

    Did you get paid not to work for the better part of a year?