Thread by @CoelThomas

#Finland conducted the worlds first national #BasicIncome experiment and the results came out today.

It was found that the effects that a basic income had on #employment were marginal, but the other effects were substantial.
Thread on this:
#perustulokokeilu
1/9

Recipients of #BasicIncome had better health, less struggles with bureaucracy and less economic troubles. They had less psychological distress, depression, melancholic feelings and experienced less loneliness.
2/9

Recipients of #BasicIncome also had higher levels of trust in other people and institutions, higher confidence in their own future possibilites and reported better general well-being.
3/9

It's clear that #BasicIncome can make life less stressful and more free for people. #MentalHealth issues cost the European economy 600 billion euros each year and basic income could be one of the solutions for this extremely expensive problem.
euractiv.com/section/econom…
4/9

Individual differences in the effects of #BasicIncome on employment are big. Some respondents reported it having a big (positive) effect on their employment, while others reported a small or no effect. Some started doing more volunteer work or family care, instead of working.
5/9

The positive social implications of #BasicIncome are very clear.

If it can also help the government save money on bureaucracy and mental health costs, while not having a big effect on employment, the net effect may be positive economically as well.
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Remember that this #BasicIncome experiment was conducted with a sample of 2000 people who had been unemployed for a long time, so it does not show the effects this would have on, for example, employed people or students.
7/9

Now during the #COVID19 crisis, it would be a good idea to give everyone a #BasicIncome, even if it is just a temporary measure. This could be used as an opportunity to test the effects of it on a much larger scale, while giving aid to people that need help.
8/9

Here's the report in Finnish. The abstract and overview (at the end) are in English.
9/9
julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/hand…

Since this tweet got quite a bit of traction, as a bonus here's a report by @GEF_Europe on the #BasicIncome model proposed by the Finnish Greens.

Our party has been talking about this before I was born, so our model is quite well-developed as well.
gef.eu/wp-content/upl…

Going through this I realized that this report is actually from 2017 and is a bit outdated, but still good. The current @vihreat-model is pretty much this, except the #BasicIncome is 600e and there's more focus on other laws that should be changed, as well as a transition phase.