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Post by Babar Guy on Jan 9, 2016 6:03:18 GMT -6
I'm for this, or it should at least be thoroughly tested to see if it's truly a valid option to the current system. Currently you absolutely have a right to unemployment benefit and housing benefit which this would replace, but applying for them is a bureaucratic hellhole. This would drastically reduce the funds needed to keep the current system operating, in exchange for giving a base income to "everyone". I use quotation marks because the people who are already in well paid jobs probably wouldn't, and in my opinion shouldn't, get the same as someone who is unemployed or just has way lower income in general. They just don't have the same need for it. We already keep track of everyone's income with our system of taxation, which I can only imagine would form the basis for how this basic income would be spread out among the population.
If this ends up happening, it's not as if anyone is getting rich off of it, it would be roughly equivalent to what you can currently get through the social security system. If you're completely unemployed, this would mean "enough to pay rent and get food on the table every month". The way the current system works, you're actively discouraged to take on short term jobs (of which there's a LOT) when unemployed unless you're certain you can basically jump immediately from one short term gig to the next and essentially be continuously employed. If, however you come across a single short term job that you'd want to apply for, even earning a tiny amount can lead to the loss of unemployment benefits, leaving you only with that couple hundred extra euros you earned. You also get penalized for quitting a job by losing the right to apply for unemployment benefit for roughly 3 months, so if there's a more permanent position that you might get somewhere, you might still end up being a bit iffy on whether or not to take it if you're unsure of whether or not it's the kind of job that you'd be good at. I'd say that's a bigger issue for young people since they rarely know what the fuck they actually want to do, rather than the hypothetical of them actively choosing not to do anything if this basic income is implemented.
The figure of 700€ a month that that lady mentions in the article is preposterous btw as an example of "too much". I mean yes, if you're already making something like 2000€ or more a month after taxes, getting an extra 700€ "just cuz" is pretty silly. However she was talking specifically about unemployed young people. I know of literally no one who would voluntarily live on that and only that. 700€ is "barely making ends meet" money, and I don't even live in the Helsinki metropolitan area where the cost of living is much, much higher than in the rest of the country. Maybe the hardest of the hardcore basement dwellers would be content with that and just sit around doing nothing until the end of time, but 99% of people would want to do SOMETHING and earn an amount to where they can live in something other than a tiny studio apartment and where they don't have to carefully consider whether or not they can afford that cup of coffee in the morning.
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