The unconditional basic income is a never-ending discussion. A long-term study is now starting, which should bring clear results. The application gates are open to everyone.
How does people’s everyday life change when they receive 1,200 euros every month – unconditionally, whether in need or not? This is what the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the Mein Basic income and scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods and the University of Cologne are investigating in a new long-term study. The research project started on Tuesday with the activation of an application page on the Internet.
What are the scientists studying?
Anyone who has their first place of residence in Germany and is at least 18 years old can apply to participate. As soon as a million applicants have come together, a selection and drawing process starts. Starting in spring 2021, 120 participants are to receive 1,200 euros a month for three years. The project is financed through donations.
The scientists then want to find out through regular surveys of the participants how their everyday lives are changing as a result of the money. The focus is on working life, finances, the family and relationships, social contacts and also possible psychological changes. Hair samples are also used to analyze the stress level.
“We want to know what it does with behavior and attitudes and whether the basic income can help to deal with the current challenges of our society,” said Michael Bohmeyer, initiator of the Mein Grundeinkommen association, on Tuesday in Berlin.
Previous studies are insufficient
There are already scientific studies on the subject worldwide, but their findings are limited, said Jürgen Schupp from DIW Berlin. “They are either out of date, cannot be generalized or only examine the basic income for the unemployed. Against this background, we in Germany are really breaking new scientific ground with this study”.
The idea of an unconditional basic income has been discussed for years. Advocates are, for example, left bosses Katja Kipping, but also the founder of the drugstore chain dm, Götz Werner. What is meant by this is a performance that every citizen should be entitled to – regardless of living and income conditions and the status of employment. In other words, a sum X that is regularly paid out to everyone without any preliminary checks, whether rich, poor, baby or old. Sometimes there is also talk of “citizens’ money”.
That’s what the opponents of basic income say
Opponents of the idea fear that such a payment slows down people’s motivation and ultimately makes them more unhappy. The costs are also listed. In purely mathematical terms, a basic income of EUR 1,000 for almost 83 million German citizens would cost almost EUR 1 trillion a year. According to the Federal Statistical Office, total government spending has so far been just under 1.5 trillion euros per year.
The association My Basic Income contradicts on both points: There is no evidence for the “laziness thesis”. In all pilot projects around the world, work continued in the same way or even more. There are different models for financing.
“The basic income is essentially a tax reform,” writes the association on its website. People with low incomes would have more money at their disposal, the so-called middle class about the same and the richest a little less than before. “The bottom line is that these people then pay more taxes than they receive basic income.” With Hartz IV there is already a kind of basic income – only this is not unconditional, but ensures demotivation, existential fear and distrust.
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