Basic income experiment
A basic income experiment was conducted in Finland in 2017–2018. During the experiment, a total of 2,000 unemployed persons between 25 and 58 years of age received a monthly payment of €560, unconditionally and without means testing.
Preliminary results: perception of improved wellbeing, during the first year no effects on employment
The first, preliminary results on the basic income experiment evaluation study were published on 8 February 2019.
The basic income experiment did not increase the employment level of the participants in the first year of the experiment. Based on an analysis of register data, recipients of a basic income were no better or worse than the control group in finding employment during the first year of the experiment . The register data are ready with a one year delay, which means that the results for the second year of the experiment will be published at the beginning of 2020.
The survey found that the recipients of a basic income perceived their wellbeing at the end of the experiment as being better than the control group. Recipients had fewer stress symptoms, fewer difficulties concentrating and fewer health problems than the control group. They were also more confident in their future and in their ability to influence societal issues.
The first results are to some extent preliminary, and it is not yet possible to draw any firm conclusions of the effects of the basic income experiment. Results will be published in a series of articles during 2019 and 2020.
- Press release: Basic income recipients experienced less financial insecurity
- Press release: Preliminary results of the basic income experiment: self-perceived wellbeing improved, during the first year no effects on employment (also in German, French and Russian)
- Research Report: Preliminary results of the Finnish basic income experiment 2017–2018
- Video record of the event 4.4.2019 (in English)
- Video record of the event 8.2.2019 (in English)
Evaluation study of the basic income experiment is underway
A more extensive research report on the first year of the experiment will be completed in spring 2019. Results for the entire experiment will become available in spring 2020.
The analysis will include both a register-based study and a phone survey among members of the experimental group and the control group.
The main goal is to help understand how receiving a basic income affects the income and employment status of the participants. The impact of the basic income on the participants’ general well-being will also be investigated. The experimental group of 2,000 persons is compared against a control group comprised of individuals who were not selected for the experimental group.
Organised by Kela, the project will also involve the Government Institute for Economic Research and other implementation partners.
- Ministry of Social Affairs and Health: Analysis of the basic income experiment set to begin
- Press release: With the basic income experiment set to finish at year’s end, some details on how the ongoing evaluation study will proceed
- Blog: Evaluation study on the basic income experiment: Topics and publication schedule
A two-year experiment
The Government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä trialled a guaranteed basic income in Finland during 2017 and 2018. A working group of researchers from a range of organisations under the project leadership of Kela explored ways in which to carry out the basic income experiment. Legislation was enacted concerning the experiment, and Kela was responsible for the practical implementation of the experiment and for the payment of the basic income. Kela is also responsible for carrying out an evaluation study on the results of the experiment.
The basic income experiment was launched on 1 January 2017. The experiment ran for two years and ended on 31 December 2018.
The purpose of the basic income experiment was to find ways to reshape the social security system in response to changes in the labour market. The experiment also explored how to make the system more empowering and more effective in terms of providing incentives for work. Further objectives included the reduction of bureaucracy and the streamlining the complicated system for providing welfare benefits.
Publications
- Miska Simanainen and Olli Kangas: What experiments in Finland can tell us about basic income
- Olli Kangas, Miska Simanainen and Pertti Honkanen: Basic Income in the Finnish Context
- Pertti Koistinen et al.: Perustulon työllisyysvaikutukset. Asiantuntijahaastatteluihin ja verrannollisiin esimerkkeihin perustuva arvio. (Employment effects of a basic income. An evaluation based on expert interviews and comparative examples)
- Mikko Forss et al.: Mitä voimme oppia maailmalla järjestetyistä perusturvaan liittyvistä kokeista? Katsaus kenttäkoeasetelmiin. (What lessons can we learn from the basic income trials carried out around the world? A survey of field test designs.)
- Jurgen De Wispelaere: Jokaisen oma tulo? Universaalin perustulon poliittinen analyysi. (An Income of One’s Own? The Political Analysis of Universal Basic Income)
- Johanna Perkiö: Suomalainen perustulokeskustelu ja mallit. (Public debate and proposed models for a universal basic income system in Finland.)
Blog posts
- At 100, Finland projects itself to the world as a dynamic innovator
- Basic income experiment at halfway point
- The OECD and the problems of basic income
- Public attention directed at the individuals participating in the basic income experiment may undermine the reliability of results
- Final report for the Finnish basic income experiment recommends that the experiment be expanded
- The Finnish basic income experiment – ”a foolish and outrageously expensive travesty”?
- Universal basic income: A search for alternative models
Presentation materials
- Basic Income Experiment 2017–2018
- Olli Kangas: Can Universal Basic Income solve future Income Security Challenges? Some tentative answers from the Finnish Basic Income (BI) experiment. Presentation at RDW 2017 congress, Geneva, 4 July 2017.
Articles published in Sosiaalivakuutus
- Perustulokokeilun arviointitutkimus on alkanut (An evaluation study of the basic income experiment has started)
- Perustulotutkimuksen tulokset ovat haastava uutisoitava (Reporting the results of basic income research is a challenge)
- Perustulokokeilu rakentaa Suomi-brändiä (The basic income experiments is helping to build Finland’s nation brand)
- Kuka kannattaa perustuloa? (Who is in favour a basic income?)
- Hacking a basic income: Ten solutions almost ready for prime time
- Perustulo siirtyy teoriasta testaukseen (Basic income: From theory to testing)
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Events
- Socially Innovative Finland - Spotlight on the basic income experiment and the Finnish maternity package, 12 January 2017
- Experimenting with Basic Income: Finland and Netherlands, 8 November 2016
- Toimisiko perustulo – mitä OECD arvioi? – Is a basic income feasible? An OECD perspective 16.6.2017
- Basic income in a global world 13 April 2015 (video in Finnish and English)
Contact information
Professor Olli Kangas, University of Turku, Head of the Research Team, tel. +358 45 138 3790, firstname.lastname@utu.fi
Minna Ylikännö, Senior Researcher, Kela, tel. +358 50 313 8712, firstname.lastname@kela.fi
Miska Simanainen, Reseacher, Kela, tel. +358 50 552 2095, firstname.lastname@kela.fi
Katja Mäkkylä, Researcher, Kela, tel. +358 50 566 8380, firstname.lastname@kela.fi
Markus Kanerva, Managing Director, Tänk (international basic income trials),
tel. +358 40 845 1881, firstname.lastname@vnk.fi
Kari Hämäläinen, Research Director, VATT Institute for Economic Research (register studies), tel. +358 40 304 5518, firstname.lastname@vatt.fi
Milla Ikonen, Communications Specialist, Kela, tel. +358 50 305 7861, firstname.lastname@kela.fi