Experimenting with Unconditional Basic Income: Lessons from the Finnish BI Experiment 2017-2018

This insightful book provides a comprehensive analysis of the nationwide randomised Finnish basic income experiment 2017 to 2018, from planning and implementation through to the end results. It presents the background of the social policy system in which the experiment was implemented and details the narratives of the planning process alongside its constraints, as well as a final evaluation of the results.

Empirical chapters analyse the outcomes of the experiment in relation to the employment, health and well-being, in various forms, of the recipients of unconditional income transfer. Phenomenological aspects of living on basic income, based on face-to-face interviews, are also reported, as well as media discourse on the experiment and its results. This thought-provoking book concludes with an examination of the political feasibility of basic income in Finland.

Offering important lessons on the planning and implementation of such experiments in a developed welfare state, this unique book will be a vital resource for scholars and students of social policy, welfare economics, basic security and basic income.

Edited by Olli Kangas, Director, Equal Society Strategic Research Programme, Academy of Finland and Professor of Practice, Department of Social Research, University of Turku, Signe Jauhiainen, Senior Researcher, Miska Simanainen, Researcher, Research Unit, Social Insurance Institution of Finland and Minna Ylikännö, Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Research, University of Turku, Finland