University of Tampere

University of Tampere

Last November, Finland’s plans to test a basic income caught the attention of international media. Although the experiments are still some months away (scheduled to begin in 2017), the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (KELA) has continued to make strides in investigating the possibilities for a basic income.

KELA has recently published a working paper that reviews the current state of the debate on basic income and assesses the pros and cons of various specific proposals.

Johanna Perkiö, a doctoral candidate at the University of Tampere, has written a useful summary of the KELA paper — including a description of the differences between the models of a basic income proposed by the Green Party, the Left Alliance, the think tank Libera, the Christian Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Youth Organization.

Perkiö also discusses the challenge of removing disincentives to work during the study, given that traditional benefits will remain in place during the trials. She broaches solutions such as a negative income tax system and reduction of benefits on a sliding scale.

To learn more about the variety of basic income models under consideration:

Johanna Perkiö, “Universal basic income: A search for alternative models,” Tutkimusblogi, January 25th, 2016.


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