A Policy Comet in Moominland? Basic Income in the Finnish Welfare State

Abstract

Finland is widely considered a frontrunner in the European basic income debate, primarily because of the decision by Juha Sipilä’s centre-right coalition government to design and conduct the first national basic income experiment (2017–2018). The Finnish basic income experiment builds on several decades of public and policy debate around the merits and problems of basic income, with the framing of basic income over time changing to fit the shift of the Nordic welfare state to embrace the activation paradigm. Underlying this discursive layer, however, we find several discrete, relatively small and unintended institutional developments that have arguably aligned the design of Finnish unemployment security closer to a partial basic income scheme. While the latter may suggest Finland has important stepping stones in place, important stumbling blocks remain and the jury is very much out on whether Finland would be the first European country to fully institute a basic income.

Speaking to those who know it best: Does participation in an experiment explain citizens’ attitudes to basic income?

“…In a similar way, debates about and support for BI go in cycles. While the idea of BI fades away during periods of prosperity and full employment, it returns as an idea for providing a source of security during hard times, rising unemployment, poverty and insecurity of income and livelihood (Halmetoja et al, 2019).…”

“…Previous studies have been able to provide a more detailed picture of the factors that explain citizens' attitudes towards BIwhether they are related to demographics, socioeconomic factors, people's attitudes, discourses, media frames or political rhetoric (eg. Andersson & Kangas, 2005;Halmetoja et al 2019;Lee, 2018;Roosma & Van Oorschot, 2020;Stadelmann-Steffen & Dermont, 2019). These studies have increased our understanding of the origins of the support for BI, and of the ability of this support to lead to collective decisions.…”

Advancing Universalism in Neoliberal Times? Basic Income, Workfare and the Politics of Conditionality

“…Halmetoja et al outline how Finnish welfare reform gradually shifted away from the insurance model common elsewhere in the region to one more compatible with flat-rate payments. Payments were individualized, paid through the same mechanism as social insurance and funded out of general revenue (2019: 324–325). The shift, they argue, reflects the rise of unemployment and casualization following the economic downturn of the 1990s.…”

The Political Economy of Governance Capacity and Institutional Change: The Case of Basic Income Security Reform in European Welfare States

“…In this instance, the case of Finland can be taken as a counterfactual, which demonstrates – by negation – the significance of local government in asserting public governance capacity. Although legacies of developmentalism and universalism are in some ways stronger compared with Holland, in Finland contention around the much-touted national income assistance experiment entailed an early setback (Halmetoja et al ., 2018). This can be set against slow-burning but persistent experimentation in Holland and Denmark and – at local level – Spain 4 .…”