It was nearly a year ago when the Finnish government announced that it was scrapping its basic income pilot project (SEE: Finland scraps basic income program, Ontario moves ahead with pilot project). It was a sudden move after officials wanted to experiment for a few years.
Everyone was kept in the dark as to what happened, why the universal basic income (UBI) test of giving 600 euros ($700) per month failed, and if it really benefits society as its proponents suggest.
Now we know the results.
Finland’s Social Insurance Institution (FSII) published the data of the two-year pilot project. The main discovery was that giving the unemployed a guaranteed income rather than unemployment benefits made them happier and less stressed. However, the UBI did not encourage them to get a job and overall incomes did not go up.
“On the basis of an analysis of register data on an annual level, we can say that during the first year of the experiment the recipients of a basic income were no better or worse than the control group at finding employment in the open labour market,” said Ohto Kanninen, the project co-ordinator from the Labour Institute of Economic Research, in the final report.
Other findings:
– Half reported to having either good or very good health.
– UBI participants reported higher trust in the government.
– One-quarter reported less stress levels.
More from the University of Helsinki:
“With that respect the results were disappointing. Basic income recipients did not have more work days or higher incomes than those in the control group. Despite the fact that basic income recipients had clearly better incentives to work, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups. The results show that among the young and the long-term unemployed other obstacles for work, such as outdated skills and health issues, are more important than financial incentives.”
All of this could was easily predictable and it could have saved the taxpayers money.
Unfortunately, before you know it, there are going to people who claim free money is a human right!
What if rap, country, and rock music was really garbage now and the only reason people like it is that the elites keep pushing it to keep the 99% brainwashed and distracted by bread and circuses?
Does anyone find the fact that every song is about sex instead of morals, war, debt, and tyranny to be a bit odd?