Committee: Universal basic income will not be introduced anytime soon
The Social Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu discussed universal basic income (UBI) at Tuesday's sitting and found that the idea could not be established in Estonia at the moment.
A petition sent to the Riigikogu suggested the feasibility and impact of unconditional basic income be examined by the committee. According to the authors of the petition, UBI could be an economic safety net for people, which would help to eliminate the fear of poverty as well as the majority of social benefits.
A UBI trial was held in Finland during 2017 and 2018 where 2000 participants were given €560 each month.
Chairman of the Social Affairs Committee Tõnis Mölder said that Estonia will certainly look closely the results of the Finnish experiment and is ready to debate the issue in the future.
"At the moment, however, the implementation of such a system in Estonia does not seem reasonable, as there is no financial analysis and no assurance that the current social system could be replaced by something more efficient," Mölder said.
Vice-President Helmen Kütt noted that the potential of UBI can undoubtedly be considered if one of its aims is to provide people with more economic security.
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Editor: Helen Wright
