Finns will receive money just for being citizens of their state
If all of today's state 'handouts' are tied to the recipient meeting certain requirements, the citizen's salary will be given just for being alive. The program to introduce citizen's salaries is expected to be implemented in 2017 in several regions of Finland, and a year later, after evaluating its effectiveness, it will spread to the whole country. It is assumed that any unemployed Finn will receive about 800 euros per month net, that is, tax-free.
As Novye Izvestiya notes, it cannot be said that the government's proposal was met with enthusiasm across the country. Finland's current economic situation is one of the saddest in Western Europe. Unemployment reaches 12%, and among youth as high as 20%, GDP growth this year will be negative, minus 0.2%, and next year it will barely reach one percent. The usual recipe for governments in such a situation is to cut all subsidies and payments to the population. The Finnish government, however, is doing the exact opposite.
'Madness. People will become completely lazy, and the country will slide into the abyss,' critics assure. 'A precise calculation and an effective way to give a boost to the economy,' proponents of the financial revolution assert. Among the latter is Danske Bank's chief economist Roger Josefsson, who commented on the decision of official Helsinki as follows: 'Finland is going through an exceptionally difficult period, the reform will help redistribute incomes, increase domestic demand, and reduce inflation.'
The Finnish government, backed by a parliamentary majority, announced its intention to radically change the system of social support for the population as early as this spring, stating that it is necessary to find non-traditional methods of attracting the unemployed to work and generally revitalizing the economy. The miracle cure was named: monthly payments to those not in the labor market, with no counter requirements.
'Today's system is yesterday's news,' comments one of the authors of the radical reform, director of the analytical company E2, Karina Jutila. 'The unemployed simply sit at home, even though a huge bureaucratic apparatus is engaged with them, ensuring that people show at least some activity.' Ms. Jutila emphasizes that the state spends much more on controllers than it could spend on a citizen's salary for the unemployed. On the other hand, a person who knows they don't have to worry about their existence will be more active. 'Someone will decide to start a company, someone will develop their hobby, someone will join the volunteer movement,' says Karina Jutila. 'Most people are active by nature, we will give a boost to their self-realization.'
According to a number of experts, Finland, which adopted in the 1960s the basic principles of the so-called 'Swedish socialism,' a reliable system of social protection developed in the neighboring Nordic country, has simply taken a step further, towards 'Finnish communism.' Proponents of the reform, responding to critics' accusations that 'the unemployed will become completely lazy,' cite the experience of Canada, where in one small town in the 1970s an experiment with citizen's salary was conducted. The results were positive and led to increased employment, reduced crime, and fewer diseases. The experiment, however, was not widespread for political reasons, as it contradicted the liberal doctrine of capitalist society development, according to which the state should minimally intervene in economic life.
As the authors of the 'Finnish communism' program believe, a citizen's salary of 800 euros is large enough that a person does not worry about tomorrow, but at the same time small enough that they strive to earn more. Today in Finland there are many job vacancies offering part-time work for small amounts of money, but the unemployed refuse these opportunities because any additional income is deducted from the amount of social payments or unemployment benefits. The amount of the citizen's salary, however, will not depend on the recipient's extra earnings.
According to polls, 79% of Finns have a positive attitude towards the introduction of a citizen's salary, believing that its basic amount could be increased for those who contribute to the development of society, whether it be voluntary help to the elderly or the improvement of their own yard.