Name: What Countries Have Tried Universal Basic Income? | NowThis World
Uploaded: 2018-09-05T14:44:24.000Z
Duration: 7 min 59 s
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What happens when a government gives their
citizens free money?

Adverbs of degree

And - if it's coming from the government
- is it really free?

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Hey guys, I'm Alex, this is NowThis World,

and on this episode, we're talking about
Universal Basic Income, what it is, and why

it's becoming a popular subject of debate.

Following recent news that Finland opted out
of continuing its UBI pilot program beyond

2018, economists are questioning the sustainability
of the controversial model.

We're taking a look at local and national
governments around the world that have given

it a shot - and diving into the question:
could a universal basic income work for the

Though it comes in different shapes and sizes,
universal basic income is an economic concept

in which everyone gets an equal amount of
money from the government, every month, no

So whether you're unemployed or working,
low-income or in the 1%, the same check will

And nobody will tell you how to spend it.

Supporters say the idea is that providing
folks with a security net won't encourage

them to stop working, but actually give them
the freedom to pursue work they're really

interested in, and restore economic security.

Some liberal proponents argue that increasing
taxes on corporations and the wealthy to help

support a universal income could be a positive
way to help out low-income communities, while

some conservative supporters like the idea
that a successful UBI could replace what they

deem as costly and ineffective social services
like food stamps, job training, Medicaid,

The idea has gained steam in recentyears,
with 48% of Americans supporting a universal

basic income program as of 2017, a number
which, according to economist Karl Widerquist,

has skyrocketed up from 12% just 10 years
ago.

As far back as 1516, philosopher Thomas More
proposed a similar idea in his book Utopia.

In a 1792 pamphlet, founding father Thomas
Paine proposed a basic income for “every

And 20th century leaders from Milton Friedman
to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spoke out about

the potential for a basic income to help different
communities out of poverty.

And under President Nixon, a plan nearly passed
to establish a guaranteed minimum income in

Fast forward to today, and the concept is
the subject of books, documentaries, and countless

It's got big-name backers from Elon Musk,
to Mark Zuckerberg, to Senator Bernie Sanders,

who said he's “sympathetic” to the approach.

Countries around the world have piloted versions
of the UBI experiment including Kenya, Canada,

Finland, the Netherlands, and Spain, with
proposed versions in places like India and

It's even been tested in a few U.S. cities
- but, would it be a viable option for the

We asked UBI expert and advocate Sandhya Anantharaman
for her take on why some feel the concept

Poverty is exhausting, and financial stress
is exhausting, and it really limits the time

and space mentally that you have to work on
great ideas.

So the idea is that, for people who are struggling
to make rent payments, buy groceries, and

support their families, the stress can be
overwhelming - and flat-out tiring.

But having a security net - of, say, $1000
per month, could clear up people's time

that they'd ordinarily spend stressing about
where their next meal will come from, and

spend more time job-searching, volunteering,
or participating in the economy.

Some participants in Finland's pilot program,
which will run through the end of 2018, are

already reporting that their stress levels
have decreased.

And while many critics argue that free cash
would disincentivize work, supporters say

In the 1960s we did a number of experiments
around the country in different states to

test the impact of unconditional cash on work.

So essentially, do people work fewer hours
or work for less money when you give them

In a paper done by the Roosevelt Institute
last year, they reexamined these experiments

and saw that there was essentially no reduction
in work hours, so when you gave people unconditional

cash, you didn't see a decrease in the hours
worked, instead folks just took the opportunity

When we looked into the data Anantharaman
references , it did indicate that some programs

resulted in “a slight reduction in work
and earnings,” but also ultimately showed

that the experiments didn't result in the
average worker leaving the labor force.

Of course, data from a few small experiments
in the '60s isn't a perfect predictor

of what would happen in the U.S. economy today.

But another recent study by the Roosevelt
Institute showed that the economy could stand

to gain trillions of dollars if UBI were to
be successfully implemented.

Others argue that UBI is a good solution to
the growing fear that automation will swallow

Study results vary widely on how much of a
threat automation actually is to the workforce.

Whatever the truth, the risk certainly feels
real to some Americans.

Two-third of them think robots and computer
will do “much of the work done by humans”

within 50 years, according to a 2016 Pew study.

There have been other positive from similar
pilot programs in other parts of the world,

So you saw kids, particularly young boys,
stay in school longer, thanks to the cash

that their families had, because that means
they didn't have to drop and get jobs, they

You saw young mothers take more time off,
particularly women who had just given birth

You saw incidents of hospitalizations went
down, you saw mental health go up.

And in Western Kenya - early results based
on interviews with participants of the 12-year

pilot program showed reduced conflict and
poverty.

And advocates of universal basic income in
the U.S. argue it could actually build bipartisan

support , with a program that would both reduce
social welfare programs and tax the wealthy.

Of course, critics of the concept argue there
are many reasons UBI wouldn't work in the

The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities suggests that even a cautious approach

to UBI would likely increase poverty rather
than decrease it.

Their report shows that a monthly $900 for
each American would cost about $3 trillion

Even if we just take into account the net
cost of UBI rather than the gross, it's