I recently stumbled on the back story of the 1848 revolution in Paris and realized this idea has been already tried out, even if it was a kind of side effect :)
In short:
1. Implemented a "right to work", everybody should have a work at a 2 francs a day
2. Parisian flocked to the state company so they paid anybody they could not give work to 1.5 francs a day for the "right to idle". Something like half the Parisians got paid like this.
3. People started to hear about this from outside the city and started to move to Paris.
4. As you can predict, it ended up as a collapse and one of the cause of this revolution.
That's actually likely to happen in any country that offers it; it could only work if they exclude immigrants from either the program or the country itself, else half of the world will flock to Switzerland to live there. Although IIRC Switzerland already has a very restrictive immigration policy as it is.
It's amazing anyone would want to move to a place that offers such a steep step up in quality of life. I'd want to move there and I live rather comfortably in the US. Why? 1) I believe in and advocate for basic income and would love to be able to put my money where my mouth is and 2) the security into retirement is huge, and the security offered to my kids when I'm gone is even bigger.
I know people envision flocks of moochers, but how many countries suffer mass-unemployment? So many. How many parents would sacrifice everything for their children to live a better life?
"move to a place that offers such a steep step up in quality of life."
Let's be sure we all agree on the meaning of the expected amount: 2'235euros.
- Average rent: 1'000€ (assuming shared apartment)
- Average base insurance: 350€
- Average public transportation monthly pass: 60€
- Average internet access: 50€
- Average mobile phone access: 30€
- Average income tax: 17% (lower quantile, insurances and transportation deducted): 318€
- Intermediate total: 477€
- 1 restaurant per month with friends: 50€
- 1 movie ticket per month: 15€
- 1 coffee, 2 times per week: 28€
- 1 drink with friends, 1 time weekly: 40€
- Total, remaining: 294€
- Daily wage: 9.40€
Just to give you an idea of what it means living with 9.40€/day in Switzerland:
- Train from Geneva to Lausanne (30 minutes): 35€
- Coffee at Starbucks: 7€
- Big mac meal at McDonald's: 10.50€
- A coffee: 3.50€
Basically speaking, this wage would grant you the real minimal amount required to pay your rent, your most basic insurance, income taxes, have a minimal social life with people (coffees) and get some very basic food at home (rice, milk, bread, etc.).
Forget the idea of buying anything else such as a kitchen appliance, furniture, clothing, books, side-education, holidays, etc.
So yes, it sounds like a very high amount to other countries ears but here, it's lower than the minimal wage. This is a wage to make let people actually "think" by removing the struggle of finding food and shelter. But it is in absolute no way enough to satisfy a normal and well-being person's needs. Finding a job remains necessary.
I get by with less in America with no problem, mostly out of habit since I can afford 'nicer' things. Buy beer at a store (you can get more than one for less money!), cook food with your friends, don't buy overpriced coffee and enjoy the nearly limitless supplies of free/cheap entertainment. Play some music or (if you have the luxury) go hiking or something.
I'd probably be in the camp of someone who would try for a riskier job, art, entertainment or game design if this was a thing. To be honest, it would probably add more value to the world than what I'm currently doing.
I still don't think it would affect most people though; I'd say the majority of people think I'm a bit odd, even some of my friends.
I wanted to chime in and also add that over time basic income would increase the cost of good, whether through taxes or vendors raising prices. The fact is, with all forms of minimum wages or basic incomes inevitably lead to increase in prices. That's pretty much how macro economics works.
That would most probably be the case if people get enough to satisfy current demand for products and at the same time create a surplus of capital to increase demand. If you got your basics covered, just barely, I don't think demand would rise.
I wonder what sort of feedback loop would result if they tied the basic income to something like the CPI[1] in the USA? -- As the price of living increased(due to the surge in demand) the basic income would be increased to retain the same buying power.
I would think some sort of controls on the prices, possibly only on things the basic income is expected to pa(rent, insurance, food, etc...) would be needed to prevent a runaway inflation feedback loop. Maybe that would be enough to prevent runaway inflation?
I like the idea of it but proper implementation would be very difficult.
That's why you move to Switzerland for a decade, subsist on bi and pull a small job (maybe), live on scraps and in a hovel, and send money home in the form of remittances
In short: 1. Implemented a "right to work", everybody should have a work at a 2 francs a day 2. Parisian flocked to the state company so they paid anybody they could not give work to 1.5 francs a day for the "right to idle". Something like half the Parisians got paid like this. 3. People started to hear about this from outside the city and started to move to Paris. 4. As you can predict, it ended up as a collapse and one of the cause of this revolution.
Source Wikipedia or this abstract: https://books.google.com/books?id=rlhDAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA866&ots...