The end of unemployment? An unconditional universal allowance that would replace all other aids…
Although it may seem paradoxical, we cannot talk about unemployment in the classic sense if working is a choice!
The basic income is a system that allows everyone to have a minimum income, regardless of the vicissitudes of professional life, paid monthly for all and for each individual, without any obligations. It is then up to anyone to supplement it by working. This aid eliminates all others. Goodbye to unemployment benefits, housing aids, retirement pensions.
The realization of this economic idea would shake up political divides. At first glance, this allowance could range between 500 and 1000 euros.
In Europe, the idea is also gaining traction. The city of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, will try the experiment on a small scale in January 2016. Switzerland will launch a popular initiative referendum on the topic next year, as it features in the program of the far-left party Podemos.
In France, it is the Aquitaine region that is examining the question. The region plans to fund a feasibility study for implementing an “unconditional RSA” amounting to 514 euros for a single adult.
