A Truly Missed Opportunity: The Political Context and Impact of the Basic Income Experiment in Finland
| Author | Heikki Hiilamo |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/13882627221104501 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
A Truly Missed Opportunity:
The Political Context and
Impact of the Basic Income
Experiment in Finland
Heikki Hiilamo
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
University of Helsinki, Helsingin yliopisto, Finland
Abstract
Finland conducted the first nationwide field experiment with partial basic income between 2017
and 2018. The experiment and its results were widely reported in international media and fea-
tured in political debates across the globe. Domestically, the experiment had an impact on social
policy debates but no impact on social policy. For example, it did not feature in the Social Security
2030 project or in the work of the Social Security Reform Committee (2020–2027). The research
setting for the experiment was compromised from the beginning due to political reasons; but the
scientific power was further undermined by a new sanctioning model, which was implemented in
2018 at the beginning of the second year of the basic income experiment. The new Government
taking office in 2019 promised to continue with a negative income tax experiment; however, no
such experiment was conducted. The article will unpack these developments in Finland and discuss
possible explanations for denouncing basic income as a policy idea.
Keywords
basic income, evidence-based policy, Finland, unemployment, welfare state
Introduction
The Finnish basic income experiment started in 2017 evoked enthusiasm around the world. The fact
that a country representing the Nordic welfare model, with top-ranking placement on almost all
human development outcomes (Kenworthy, 2020), would experiment with basic income added
Corresponding author:
Heikki Hiilamo, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, PL 30, 00271 Helsinki, Finland and University of Helsinki,
Unioninkatu 37, 00014 Helsingin yliopisto, Finland.
E-mail: Heikki.hiilamo@thl.fi
Article
European Journal of Social Security
2022, Vol. 24(3) 177–191
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/13882627221104501
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