Keynote speech

Societies of the future: how basic income affects inclusion and social trust?

PL

Na tej prelekcji będzie tłumaczenie na język polski.

DLA KOGO?

Zapraszamy decydentów i specjalistów z:

• biznesu,
• nauki,
• organizacji społecznych.

O CZYM BĘDZIE TO WYSTĄPIENIE?

Prelekcja jest na temat dochodu podstawowego i doświadczeń Finlandii z wprowadzania 2-letniego pilotażowego programu.

ILE POTRWA SPOTKANIE?
Prelekcja potrwa 1 godzinę.

WHO IS THIS EVENT FOR?

We invite people from:

• business,
• science,
• social organizations.

WHAT IS THIS SPEECH ABOUT?

The speech is about societies of the future and how basic income affects inclusion & social trust. Reading the description below will get you familiar with the issue and the importance of the subject.

Description is based on: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/finland-basic-income-globalization_b_588155a0e4b096b4a230eea8

What is basic income?

Basic income is a system in which all citizens of a country regularly receive a set amount of money.

It is based on a positive view on individuals and it constitutes a symbol of country's belief in their citizens - including those in the lower class - that they can contribute to the society and benefit both themselves and the community.

What is the issue being tackled here?

Disruptive technological progress in Western nations has made some lower paying jobs redundant and hence, lead to greatly increasing the unemployment rate. People whose jobs have been replaced by machines, robots or AI, are now a target for various workfare policies, but as this group grows, the number of jobs available for them does not.

Moreover, those programs do not allow citizens to continue to receive unemployment benefits even when they take the only jobs they can find. They are often short-term and low paying ones that do not cover basic standard of living needs. Moving to a basic income system could help support those who fall within the short-term employment category.

How is it in Finland?

Finland, with around 5.5 million inhabitants, has a small and open economy that depends on

• the export industry and its vulnerability to external shocks such as global economic crises,
• trade sanctions against neighboring Russia
• price fluctuations of minerals and pulp and paper.

The collapse of Nokia's mobile phone business wiped out factories leading to unemployment rates nearing 20 percent in some cities. Currently,

Finland is slowly recovering from the global recession, but the GDP is still below pre-2008 level and the most urgent problem is increase in long-term unemployment. And more than ever, the Finnish people need an economic system, like basic income, to keep the growing lower class from expanding further and falling further into poverty.

Finland and the basic income experiment

This is an experimental program instituted by the government where a randomly selected group of 2,000 unemployed Finns are paid €560 per month for a study period of two years regardless of employment status, a much different system than the country and others around them have been used to.

The cash sum will replace the existing flat rate unemployment benefit benefits and will continue to be paid even if they take up jobs. An additional advantage is that recipients of basic income  do not need to report their incomes to the unemployment office, which will greatly reduce bureaucracy and insecurity caused by fluctuating benefit levels.

What are the pros?

Quality of life

Basic income based on social security systems has proven to increase quality of life. The evaluation of a universal basic income experiment in Dauphin, Manitoba in Canada showed just that. In fact, the Canadian city saw large improvements in both health and education of its residents.

Taking care of children and the elderly

The same goes for four negative income tax experiments in a handful of U.S. states between 1968 and 1980. In both cases, employment fell slightly. This can be explained based on the knowledge that, in the absence of universal access to child care and elderly care, it seems easy to understand why some may gravitate towards unpaid domestic work, such as taking care of their kids, over paid work outside of the home.

What are the cons?

There are numerous questions regarding motivation to work, the cost of the program, inequality and finally: "is money a birthright"?

On the horizon...

While the jury is out in Finland, cities and governments from Oakland, California to France, Italy and many more in Europe, have recently announced an interest in running basic income pilots in the coming years. The basic income experiment in Finland shows that partial basic income is a feasible idea with a pragmatic goal to increase employment and the incentive to work outside of the traditional labor market.

You can get a rebate code from exhibitors and event partners, which reduces the price by at least 33%. A daily conference ticket (multi-sessions) is available here at HRD Expo 2019  

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
The speech will take 1 hour.

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN ATTEND?

There is a minimum of 30 people required for the event to run and 100 is the maximum room capacity.

WHO IS THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER?

Professor Heikki Hiilamo

Heikki Hiilamo is professor of social policy at the University of Helsinki. His research is focused on inequalities, poverty, family policy and tobacco control. Heikki is also a member of the Expert Panel on Sustainable Development.

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