Finland’s universal basic income experiment has got labour hot under the collar
Helsinki — Finland’s basic income experiment is unworkable, uneconomical and ultimately useless. Plus, it will only encourage some people to work less. That is not the view of a hard-core Thatcherite, but of the country’s biggest trade union. The labour group says the results of the two-year pilot program will fail to sway its opposition to a welfare-policy idea that’s gaining traction among those looking for an alternative in the post-industrial age. "We think it takes social policy in the wrong direction," said Ilkka Kaukoranta, chief economist of the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), which has nearly 1-million members. Since January, a group of unemployed Finns aged between 25 and 58 have been receiving a stipend of €560 a month. The amount is not means-tested and is paid regardless of whether the recipient finds a job, starts a business or returns to school. Diverse support Popular in the 1960s, the idea of a guaranteed minimum income for everyone is gaining mo...
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