
Results of Finland's basic income experiment - simonpure
https://www.kela.fi/web/en/news-archive/-/asset_publisher/lN08GY2nIrZo/content/results-of-the-basic-income-experiment-small-employment-effects-better-perceived-economic-security-and-mental-wellbeing
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sharemywin
The argument has never been it wouldn't help people with the money problems.

The main arguments against are:

1\. assuming a limited budget what other priorities would it take funding
from?

2\. what are the macro economic effects on things like inflation and size of
workforce.

~~~
eesmith
One of the arguments against it was that it had never really been tested
before[1], making it hard to understand what the actual effects might be, vs.
the theoretical benefits ... or worries.

For example, one of the arguments against basic income is that people would
stop working.

This experiment observes "The employment rate for basic income recipients
improved slightly more during this period than for the control group."

Thus, at least for Finland, basic income does not appear to get a large number
of people to stop working.

It's hard to know how to prioritize things if you don't know the effect.
Perhaps if people are "satisfied with their lives" then there's less need for
mental health care? In which case there's a possible re-prioritization there.

BTW, the summary doesn't appear to address if the experiment helped people
with money problems. It describes the weaker "more positive perception of
their economic welfare".

[1] "Really" here being "nationwide, statutory and randomised".

