UNIVERSAL INCOME IN SWITZERLAND

“Swiss citizens may soon enjoy a universal income, the equivalent of 2,200€ per month. The government has indeed agreed to hold a referendum on the issue on 5 June.

If the law is approved, every Swiss citizen will receive nearly 2,300€ per month without condition. This "universal guaranteed income" would even be granted to foreign legal residents, as well as children. Minors receive indeed an allowance of about 130€ per week. This would be a world first, although other countries, such as Finland, are also studying the implementation of a similar measure.

To finance this universal income, using the Swiss state taxes it collects, and the savings made on all currently existing social benefits, since they would all be deleted. In total, this would represent about 186 billion euros a year.

At the origin of this initiative, there is a group of artists, writers and intellectuals. They argue in particular that the fact of giving a universal income to all citizens would not prevent them to want to work to improve their income, or just to flourish in an activity. Several studies on the subject have indeed advanced this conclusion.

However, a survey (Demoscope) recently conducted among Swiss voters showed that a third of them believed that people stop working if they received a guaranteed income, while 56% did not think that it can one day be introduced.”

Written by (Fabrice Coffrini - AFP) 

I truly believe that this is possible in Switzerland. The Swiss are extremely civilised. On my travels to work and visit many continents, I had the opportunity to understand and live different cultures and to my experiences I find the Swiss the most civilised, respected people on our planet.