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Re:Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system by netcan on Thursday August 20, 2015 @09:40AM (#10091698)
BI alone is by definition the poorest you can be. That's never going to be nice. It's almost certainly never going to be $45k. So long as money motivates people, people should still be motivated to have more than the poorest.

OTOH, BI does not disincentivize recipients from working, like current schemes do.

The specifics vary by place but almost everywhere unemployment benefits recede rapidly when you are.. employed. If you are disabled but manage to work part time, that can be used to invalidate your disability claim.

The whole point is to get more people working, and make it worth their while. If BI results in fewer people working, it has failed.

Re:Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system by surfmike on Thursday August 20, 2015 @12:50PM (#10093044)
The benefit will be universal, but then you have to pay for it with increased taxes. So the increased marginal rate will disincentivize people from working.
Re:Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system by seanflyon on Thursday August 20, 2015 @06:19PM (#10094985)
With BI, You will never be in a situation where you will be poorer for earning a dollar you just won't be an entire dollar richer.
Re:Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system by surfmike on Thursday August 20, 2015 @06:32PM (#10095021)
We could scale back benefits more gradually than we do today. That would be a lot cheaper than giving everyone a guaranteed pot of money.
Re:Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system by xienze on Thursday August 20, 2015 @09:52AM (#10091766)
> BI alone is by definition the poorest you can be.

So is minimum wage + all eligible welfare benefits. What's the cash value of that? That's your new BI.

Re:Finland considers basic income to reform welfare system by seanflyon on Thursday August 20, 2015 @08:18PM (#10095337)
Minimum wage guarantees you will make a minimum of $0 + all eligible welfare benefits.