Did Finland's basic income experiment work? - BBC News 

Let me save the viewer six minutes of their life: The answer to the question in the title of the video is not in the video. No statistics were presented. They talked to a few people and we heard their feelings about their anecdotal situations (in other words, no useful data). The last sentence in the video is, the Finland government is analyzing the results (which we don't yet have).

Finland. The country where even unemployed people speak a second language fluently

Premature! No data, no analysis, no conclusion except "a woman wants good cheese and a journo likes a beer."

you just want the good cheese ... i respect that

Hasn’t had a job in 3 years... grabs a pint from the pub 😂😂😂 love it

As a Finn living abroad, I really wanted to know the results of this experiment. This video provided me jack shit.

Seems like this journalist was spending all his free money on booze.

Would have been a much better article if you followed at least 10 different people who also live in other places in Finland and are studying and working or have disabled family members who need special care etc, this video article didn't even give the viewers 10% understanding of the issue and didn't even bring any conclusions, we expect more of the BBC, you can do better.

As a finnish person with mental illnesses I would be dead already if the authorities wouldnt have stepped in. My therapy gets paid by the government and so does my rent. This might seem crazy in other countries but Finland tries to care of people who are sick and I and many more are grateful for that.

Great. For those wondering "Did Finland's basic income experiment work?" as the title promises................. [Spoiler alert] They don't know yet.

I've met these people. They're the "I cant find a job doing ______" and then they basically just give up. Bro, if you're unemployed as a journalist for 2 to 6 years, ya might wanna consider learning something new?

You just interviewed people norhing else! So disappointed. BBC used to present detailed videos

This is what governments around the world need to be doing, conducting experiments for what works instead of arguing like idiots about our ideologies. Maybe this will work, or maybe it will not, but the fact that the govt is open to running tests is what is important.

Enjoy your country baby. Trust me there are places worse Finland is one of the best place to live

Pointless program. No results, no questions answered

This guy is getting 560 a month but goes to bars and has a macbook pro WTF?

Bottom line: if you don't know how to manage money, it doesn't matter if you have 5 dollars or 5 million.

"How am I going to live my finances are collapsing". Is this video a joke?, you live exactly the same way before you got free money..

I don't know why they are acting as if this is some new concept. People on welfare have had a basic income with no strings for generations.

Lesson I learned from the video: If you give people money, they will become dependent on it.

Take a job you don't want? Completely out of the question.

The cultural differences do exist. In Spain, you can buy a beer out of a vending machine. In Canada, if a minor gets served, entire businesses will be fined and shut down, and employees get fired.

Summary: Oh no I don’t have money I can’t buy cheese Yay money I can buy cheese No! Now there’s no money, no cheese! Thanks for explaining nothing.

I am not an economist, however, the study is flawed if the UBI recipient group was 2000 unemployed. Universal Basis Income means everyone including Tim Cook of Apple would receive a monthly benefit. Where are the small business owners in this study, where are the young entrepreneurs etc.. I don't understand the objective of the study. I hope everyone understands that the banks did not turn down QE after the global 2008 collapse. QE is UBI for banks. Banks already benefit from the magic of fractional reserve banking.

Point missed. Basic Income is not just about "getting a job". It is conceived as a way of keeping an economy afloat when there simply are not enough jobs to go round. Automation, robotics, AI will impact hugely on the future job market, so much so that "Post Capitalism" is a real thing we need to be fleshing out; basic income is likely to be a key part of that.

If she cannot afford take care of herself why does she have a dog? 🤔

80 job applications in 6 YEARS!? When I graduated from school I applied to well over 500 jobs in 6 months! No one was giving me money to hang out in the bar, thank God.

Also: Telemarketing isn’t a real job. It’s taking advantage of people inclintation to be polite.

To the author, write a book, self publish it. Make it simple, maybe a travel book on your country, maybe a cookbook with national recipes, maybe a children's book centered on Finland. Write articles for magazines and submit them. Start a class for students who want to learn writing skills. I know it's not a typical 40 hr a week employment, but it could lead to something better. Exposure is everything.

Just to clarify: the 650€ was just the free money they received from the experiment. That amount does NOT include the unemployment benefits they receive from the government.

still without a job but $100 hair cut and drinking high end beer at high end restaurants.....what is wrong with people

“Free Money” seems to work for the 1%. Their money makes their un-earned income, not their labours.

How is this a "basic income"? Can one live on it even at the most frugal level? If not, what do they mean by basic income?

Did the journalist consider other jobs ? There are some domains like construction/goods transport that are always hungry for workers...Anyways, I wish him good luck from Morocco, whatever he chooses to do

Bravo Finland! For having the creativity & courage in helping the people. 👋🏿

I didn’t learn anything from this.

Nice micro-documentary, no useful nor interesting information.

Odd that each time they show the unemployed journalist he has a drink in his hand,

These people should be taking any job they can find in order to avoid being a scab (for 5-6 years). They're living off the blood, sweat and tears of hardworking taxpayers. How nice to order expensive alcohol in a fancy bar during working hours.

TLDW: so if you give them the UBI they become dependent on it and without it, they're screwed. They won't find high enough paying jobs that they don't need the UBI anymore. Better not to introduce it in the first place, to make them self sufficient.

Program should be accompanied by some sort of financial literacy or suggestions on what to do with that extra money---I would've applied it to education/savings

I too have only wanted the good cheese. Some people think I'm to picky. But I will not settle for crap cheese.

That's the sort of outstanding journalism I've come to expect from CNN, er...I mean, BBC News. Sorry.

This guy sounds like me when I was an active boozer. I would go to the bar n complain about not having a job. I stopped boozing n went to work. Basic Intelligence for basic income.

Learn to code 😀

What do you want? CHEESE! When do you want it? NOW! It's not a lot to ask, is it? Everyone on RU-vid should all band together and start sending her lots of different cheeses from around the world. 🧀😂🧀🧀

"But this was not real basic income."

The results DID come out, apparently giving people free money DIDN'T encourage many to get work.

I live in the Caribbean I really don't get these people, I started working at 14 bagging groceries, cleaning my neighbors yard and now i'm a Hotel Night Agent and operate my Family business.... if I didn't work I wouldn't have nothing to eat nor have running water, that man can easily get a job as Proofreader, Editor or Translator but it seems like he asks for too much money or like too party a lot. and that young woman she sounds friendly enough to get a job at retail or as a cashier, but looks like she has an issue with keeping a schedule and looks disorganized

Yet still paying £150 for the TV licence oh!! It's gone up £155....why?

Yes, you have told two stories. Yes, the viewer is now aware that basic income is not always good and not always bad. No, the viewer wasn't meaningfully informed in any other way about the actual effect of basic income and whether it is a good idea, like the video asks.

What was the point of that? No information, no analysis and no conclusion.

Is it really that hard to start something in Finland? I would have rather saved the amount for a year(560×12=6,720€) and start something at my own. The Journalist guy could have started a online news portal/blog or a RU-vid channel.....which might eventually support him with a good income.👻

early this morning my crap produced a more in depth story on if this plan is working

I read many of the comments on here and I see how uninformed people are about the benefits of a guaranteed basic income. First benefit, it would lift a significant number of people out of the "working poor" category. If those people who are working 2-3 jobs just to scrape by got a boost to their income it might just be enough to allow them time to return to school to improve themselves. Second, if more people are receiving guaranteed income, then targeted government benefits like welfare, mother's allowance etc could be done away with. The third benefit - What it costs in additional spending it makes up in reduced bureaucracy for both the government and recipients. Guaranteed basic income isn't a "get rich quick" scheme designed to keep people dependent, it's designed to give people a lift and help them become more independent. It's an interesting experiment that seems worthwhile checking out, because what's happening in many countries right now is failing badly.

The idea is based on the norm that people want to work. And finns in general do follow this honor of providing for themself. However this will not always be the case if some people get the idea they now have kind of an free ticket in a society where there is already a system to cover for people who don't have money. The project is doomed to fail since these are the people who use the system wrong and will make it not sustainable

"The basic income experiment in Finland has gained unprecedented attention around the world. However, the preliminary results of the experiment are disappointing. The labour market effects, which were the focus of the experiment, seemed negligible." "Ba­sic in­come did not cre­ate more work hours or higher in­comes" - Nordic Welfare News Also, that money the government spent on this, was taken from productive people through taxation.

I want the good cheese too.....not American cheese

Very little info was given about the program so this video was useless. The journalist's problem wasn't that he wasn't able to find work for 5 years, it was that he continued to look for work in the same dying industry that's telling him he's "too old" or "too experienced." We have options in this world. A responsible adult would say, "Something's not working. Let me change career paths or look for a lower level job to help me get by, at least."

This isn't UBI. This money only went to unemployed people. UBI is supposed to go to everyone.

Journalists have never been in high demand... reality's bottom line dictates: find another line of work!

I wish I had been a part of this experiment. For me I just want a job I like that gives me enough money for my needs and for the charity I do. Freedom and being content are more important than being rich.

The blue collar worker found a job in whatever was available could find. The journalist, it would appear, was too good for anything other than journalism.

The woman is open to any job she can get. The man is looking for a job that fits his exact job title.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

Free Cheese and beer i can get on that band wagon.

Video Synopsis: Woman eats 2 years of basic income worth of cheese; Man drinks 2 years of basic income worth of alcohol.

I dont want free money. I just want the govt to stop stealing half the money I earn.

If you're waiting for any government of any type to help you become prosperous, you have already lost.

After college I had applied to over 300 jobs before I got offered 1... it took over a year and half of working multiple part time jobs before getting a job that paid enough to only work one job... even though it was a poor paying job nevertheless... you make hard decisions but don't rely on the government.

😫 my father and mother had many jobs in their working life. Dad was a depressions era guy as my mom, he farmed, worked in a saw mill, dug coal in another state for a few years and ended up being a welder for the last 30 years or so. Mom worked many jobs as well in different fields and raised 5 kids. This ethic was passed on to us then our children. Moral of the story is You may see yourself as a journalist but if there are no journalist positions available then pick another field and work, at the end of the day you are a worker. 👍🏻

This seems to be the way these programs work everywhere. There. was a 'Mincome' program in the early 70s in Dauphin, Manitoba

why doesn't the author apply to McDonald's if he can't find a journalist job?

So you havent had a job for 5 years? You get whatever cheese you get...

What I don't understand is why didn't the journalist use his skills to earn money. Free lance, write books, anything.

Tanya sure bought a lot of cheese during the 2 years.

Yay Tanya you can "buy the good cheese" now!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Does free money work? Give money to the rich and it’s called incentives and stimulus for the economy. Give money to poor people and it’s called hand outs

I lost my DLA during an extremely difficult time in my life where my health was an absolute mess (multiple chronic illnesses, autism, multiple mental health issues) and I was barely able to walk, eat, sleep, bathe, dress myself or leave the house for months, up every night puking my guts up until there was blood, had a severe chest infection, hallucinating, self harming etc and was not in a fit state to appeal the decision; the application process in itself was bad enough. Everything about the benefits system is a confusing, intimidating mess that can get you into a bigger hole than the one you started with as many find with housing benefit or massive delays with universal credit. You have to prove your outgoings before applying, so have to take on financial commitments without a guarantee that you can fulfil. You may be rejected. Your award or conditions of your reward could change at any time. You can't get help if someone you live with is deemed to be your partner even if you're essentially being forced into sex and do not have access to their financial information. I lost my home, my long term partner, my cat and have been forced into sex work in exchange for sleeping on an internet stranger's couch. My DLA wasn't even that much money, less than half of a basic income being proposed, but it would have been enough to keep me afloat taking the financial stress off of me so I could recover and get myself to hospital appointments which will make me more employable (I had put off so many appointments and surgery because I couldn't afford the time off work when I was working). It takes so much more time money and effort to help people who have hit rock bottom get back on their feet. When you lose your home and all your stuff, it takes a huge toll on your mental health, impeding job searching/work performance (it was hard working 7-9 days straight whilst not knowing where I was going to sleep every night). Some people may even feel forced to quit their job if they can't manage coming in and homelessness, keeping up appearances and complicated commuting from various hostels/shelters etc. resulting in financial penalties or legal action for quitting without giving adequate notice. You keep having to waste money storing or repurchasing things especially if you need specialist PPC or equipment to do your job. Many places will not hire you if you are homeless because they perceive complications on their end. I have had rejections for farm jobs when I have great grades from a private school, university level education, a decade of volunteering/apprenticeships/internships (15 years' experience overall) plus a relevant qualification (Distinction grade) in agriculture. They wouldn't even let me have a basic farm job because they thought the level of extra support I would need due to my circumstances would be too much. I have an IQ of 142 and couldn't even get a minimum wage labour job; they said come back once you are not homeless. I am trying to get the job to get out of my situation! Getting yourself into debt messes up your credit rating which goes against you in the future. I would try to move to a place with a cheaper cost of living again to make my existence more realistically sustainable but can't afford to do that. A basic income coming in could fund that and give people money to live on whilst looking for a new job in a new place, buying interview clothes/travel expenses to interviews etc. When I lost my home that was my plan; I had moved somewhere with a cost of living less than half of my home city, but simply having no money coming in for 2 straight months meant I wound up back at zero, requiring even more help from public services. With a basic income I could have stayed where I was, still had my boyfriend of 6 years living with me, not have cracked under financial strain, gotten my prescriptions/health issues under control) and eventually got a job in the new location. £5880 a year might be enough to scrape by on for some people but it's definitely enough to help someone keep their head above water and HELP THEMSELVES, either during a job search, topping up a low income if they're already in work or support the startup of new small businesses that take a little while before they become sustainable and start turning a profit. Fixing homelessness long term costs so much more than creating a safety net to help avoid it in the first place. This isn't meant to live on, its just to help people not lose everything and have to start all over again, keep afloat, save to invest in things that would be profitable and sustainable in the future etc.

“People won’t use the money for drugs and alcohol” . . *Shows a clip of a man who’s been without work for years walking into a bar to spend his UBI on alcohol*

The BBC used to be informative-not any more

Does basic income work?? Sure AF works for the banks, but they call it "Infinite Quantitative Easing," which is fancy language for basic income for billionaires.

It sounds like it really helped while they had it, but it didn't directly address the issues as to why they didn't have income from work. Sounds like the woman was able to hold out for a better job than taking the first thing that came along, so that was good, at least, and it means that you don't have a whole bunch of unemployed people deathmatching it out for the same low paying jobs. Probably the benefits are more long term, as it gets more money circulating into the economy, people who receive it spend more, thus providing more income for people who work, and then the rising tide raises all ships. But yeah, this video doesn't address those issues.

It appears that there is no term in Finnish that means "transferable skills" (or a tolerance for change).

Damn if you want dat good cheese then go get that good cheese who's stopping you?

I'm actually dumber now than I was 6 mins ago.

Thanks Daniel for your adroit post!

universal basic income wouldn't really help when it's applied across the whole country, since that just devalues money.

Does anyone know the difference between Finland's 'Basic Income' experiment and Welfare? The number of letters used to name it. Much like the claim of Socialism isn't Socialism if it's DEMOCRATIC Socialism. They think to avoid the stigma associated with handing out WELFARE by changing the name to 'Basic Income'. Changing the NAME doesn't change what it is. It is money that the Government takes from someone who is working. And giving it to someone who is NOT working. The majority of whom probably COULD work if they just got off their asses and went looking for a job. If there are just plain no jobs to be had it's a sure sign the policies your Government Officials endorse are not working. Of course it being Government, the exchange rate is idiotic in its level of inefficiency.

Andrew yang 2020.

Link to the analysis?

The USA calls this unemployment benefits. You do cap out in a very short time. In the beginning, it basically functioned to push people into taking jobs they would not normally take. Now there are not even any bad jobs to take. The lack of jobs for people worldwide is suspiciously looking more and more like a global agenda and a social strategy.

Logic tells you basic income = inflation, immediately.

" I haven't worked since 2013, I'm a Journalist ..." Then get a different line of work Pal! The world doesn't need more journalists! How about plumbing?

Would love to see the final numbers and analysis........

2 years later, looks like she’s had herself several servings of that good cheese.

If she didn't have a dog she might be able to afford that cheese she likes so much.

Now the writer is jobless, once robots taking over all the jobs, i think one the few jobs that would remain will be that of writers and artists.

It worked even the guy was wasting the money putting it back into the economy

Is it uncommon for Fins to switch careers?