Ontario conducts an experiment with an unconditional basic income

Residents of the Canadian province of Ontario will soon begin to receive monthly financial payments without any conditions - the so-called unconditional basic income . This is a pilot program, which, if successful, can be extended to the whole country.

The idea of ​​unconditional basic income (AML) is that every adult citizen regularly receives a certain amount of money, regardless of whether he works somewhere or not. The basic income means that each person has a share in the total national production, including the share of national natural resources. Canada replenishes a significant part of the budget by selling oil. It is logical that the income from the sale of national wealth is distributed among all citizens.

According to Canadian economists, the payment of AML not only improves the average standard of living and is consistent with social justice, but even stimulates the creation of new jobs. Oddly enough, when they get unconditional income, people continue to work almost as much as before. Citizens spend more time on education , child care, and while reducing the number of working hours , labor productivity increases .

Payments to AEDs eliminate the shortcomings of standard unemployment benefits. First, many of those who cannot register as unemployed will receive financial assistance. Secondly, the fat bureaucratic stratum, which deals with the design and distribution of benefits, is eliminated. Practice shows that the current system of unemployment benefits is ineffective and does not fulfill the tasks assigned to it. As a result, the level of poverty and the number of poor citizens is growing For example, in the US, 45 million people live below the poverty line , and in Canada, poverty is affecting every fifth child .
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American studies have shown that paying the minimum amount ($ 4000 per year) to citizens greatly improves the health of their children, reduces the number of behavioral and emotional deviations, children become more conscientious and sociable. This means that in the future the society will become more healthy, the crime rate will decrease, and the children themselves are more likely to get an education and a good job. That is, AML has a long-term positive effect.

Scientists do not fully understand why unconditional income improves health so much. There are studies that financial stress directly affects the life expectancy and the occurrence of a number of serious diseases. If a person works only to survive - this is bad both for the economy and for himself.

“As the economy grows in Ontario, the government keeps the goal of not leaving anyone behind,” says the official Ontario budget performance report . “Maintaining an effective social protection system is part of a wider government effort to reduce poverty and ensure community and economic performance.”

The idea of ​​unconditional basic income was proposed in 1795 by the philosopher Thomas Paine, although since then it has not been implemented in any country of the world. In recent years, the theory of social dividends is gaining popularity again. AML pilot programs are launched in the Netherlands , India , Finland and France . Now - and in Canada.