HELSINKI: Finland is to introduce a basic income for some citizens from next month, becoming the first country to adopt the policy. Two thousand unemployed people will be given €560 ($600) every month for two years, without any restrictions or conditions attached. Leaders hope the move will improve life quality, reduce unemployment and create jobs. Recipients will not need to prove they are looking for work and the money will be given regardless of any other income the person earns.
The Finnish government is planning to study whether the policy helps recipients find work. It suspects many unemployed people are put off getting a job because they will lose unemployment benefits and therefore be worse off financially – a similar problem to that which tax credits were designed to solve in the UK. The Swedish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health said in a statement: “The Government proposes the implementation of a basic income experiment. The experiment [will] be carried out in 2017 and 2018, and its aim is to show whether basic income can be used to reform social security so that incentive traps relating to work are eliminated.
