Basic income or a single tapering rule? Incentives, inclusiveness and affordability compared for the case of Finland

Jon Pareliussen ; Hyunjeong Hwang ; Heikki Viitamäki

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

关键词: universal credit;    work incentives;    welfare reform;    inequality;    basic income;    Finland;   

DOI  :  https://doi.org/10.1787/d8c0fbc4-en

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: OECD iLibrary

【 摘 要 】

The combination of different working-age benefits, childcare costs and income taxation creates complexity, reduces work incentives and holds back employment. This paper compares Finland’s benefit system with two benefit reform scenarios: a uniform benefit for all (“basic income”) and a universal tapering rule (“universal credit”). The scenarios are modelled in the OECD TaxBen model and the TUJA microsimulation model. We find that replacing current benefits with a basic income would improve incentives for many, but with a drastic redistribution of income and likely increasing poverty as a result. Merging working-age benefits with similar aims and coordinating their tapering against earnings would on the other hand consistently improve work incentives and transparency, while preserving or improving social protection.