Berlin, DEU - A set of Germans will be the latest recipients of the universal basic income, as a trial is set to start as the three-year study will determine the effects on the economy and the well-being of its recipients.
The study involves 120 persons who will receive $1,430 or €1,200 on a monthly basis for the next three years, which is also the amount that is just above the poverty line of Germany.
Researchers will compare the difference between their experiences to the other 1,380 persons who will not receive any amount for the following three years.
German Institute for Economic Research conducted the study with the help of 140,000 private donations.
As part of the study, all of the participants must have their complete answers on the set of the questionnaires that will be given to them regarding their work, lives and emotional state after receiving the basic income if it had a significant impact on their lives, Business Insider reported.
The Universal basic income is an idea wherein the government will be paying a lump sum of money to each of its citizens, normally once a month, without any bias on their income or even their employment status.
Proponents of the idea state that it would reduce inequality and improve the well-being of the citizens by providing more stability to their financial needs.
On the other hand, the opposing group to the idea shared that it would be too expensive. They also mentioned that it is a way of discouraging people from working.
The study gained traction over the last years where financial crisis and inequality is a problem in a number of Western countries.
The leader of the latest study, Jürgen Schupp shared that the current study will give improvement to the debate about the idea as it will produce new scientific evidence.
He also mentioned that the debate regarding basic income has so far been like a philosophical salon especially in good moments but it turns into a war of faith during bad times.
According to The New York Post, the current leader of the study stated that both sides of the argument were shaped by clichés as the opponent claims that having basic income means people will stop working and just order food while enjoying streaming services, but the proponents think the other way. Based on them, it will make people continue fulfilling their work.
Aside from that since they will have extra money, they will become more charitable which will save democracy according to Jürgen Schupp.
Mein Grundeinkommen, a pro-basic-income group is funding the current experiment.
Since 2014, 668 people received their €1,000 monthly income from the group as they used the donations that they received from supporters to fund the experiment.
Finland also experimented with a basic-income-like study for a span of two years, which started from January of 2017 to December of 2018 to the unemployed Finns. The recipients had €560 monthly but based on the researchers the trial concluded that it just led to people going out of work, making them happier. It also ended up not increasing the employment rate in the country.
