Abstract:

Finland, which is in the group of Social-Democratic prosperity states, is seen as the pioneer of universal basic income practices in Europe in the ranking of the prosperity state by Esping-Andersen. Basic income application in Finland was first proposed by Samuli Paronen in 1971, and many studies on Basic income application were subsequently conducted. Economic crises in Finland have led to high rates and long-term unemployment, and the primary income application has come to the forefront in the elimination of the problem of unemployment. For the first time during the Juha Sipilä Government period, the national basic income application was designed and implemented for a two-year period to cover the years 2017-2018. The basic income application was implemented by more than 2000 people aged 25-58 who received unemployment pay from the Finnish Social Insurance Institute Kela. These persons were paid a monthly fee of €560 free of tax by Kela. In this study, especially in the recent period, the universal basic income subject that has been discussed with the cause of the COVID epidemic is studied and evaluated by the Finnish application. The assessment has concluded that although the universal basic income is quite effective in terms of employment and well-being, it is not possible to implement it in terms of cost.

Abstract:

Finland, which is in the Social Democratic Welfare States group in the welfare state classification by Esping-Andersen, has been seen as the pioneer of universal basic income practices in Europe. In Finland, the first basic income experiment was proposed by Samuli Paronen in 1971 and after that many studies were conducted about the basic income experiment. The economic crises experienced in different periods in Finland caused a high level and long-term unemployment to emerge and the basic income experiment has come to the forefront in resolving the unemployment problem. Moreover, the national basic income experiment was designed for the first time during the Juha Sipilä Government period, and implemented for a period of two years, including the years of 2017-2018. The basic income experiment has been implemented on 2000 people between the ages of 25-58 who receive unemployment pay from Kela, the Finnish Social Insurance Institution. These people were paid a monthly tax-exempt basic income of 560 euros by Kela.In this study, the issue of universal basic income, which has come to the fore especially recently due to the COVID pandemic, is examined with the studies in the literature and evaluated with the Finland application. In the evaluation made, it was concluded that although universal basic income is quite effective in terms of employment and welfare, it is not very possible to apply in terms of cost.

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