The “unconditional basic income” proposed by Switzerland in 4 issues – The World

Le Monde | 06/05/2016 at 11:44 • Updated 05/06/2016 at 4:04 p.m. | By Alexandre Pouchard

the Swiss overwhelmingly rejected, Sunday, June 5, the creation of a basic income for all, a new vote that sparked heated debates in the country. According to a projection of the polling institute gfs.bern broadcast by public television one hour after the closing of polling stations, 78% of voters said no to the controversial project.

• basic income what is

The principle is simple: each citizen has an unconditional allowance regardless of income , professional status or marital status. This allowance will replace completely or partially other social benefits. According to the French Movement for basic income (MFRB), an association created in 2013 to promote and inform about the basic income, it is a “inalienable right, hardcore, combined with other income, distributed by a political community to all its members, from birth to death, on an individual basis, without control of resources or requirement of consideration, the amount and financing are adjusted democratically . “

Read also: what is the universal basic income?

Also called “universal income” or “subsistence income”, the basic income can also be defended by the Liberals and the extreme left militants, based on the amount allocated to it . Indeed, the objective of this basic income varies greatly depending on the amount you decide to allocate to each person. In one case, it can only provide a minimum to survive, still need to work to live properly (for example if the amount of the active solidarity income in France, 524 euros per month for a single person) . In another, it can provide enough to live without necessarily having to work, each choosing its activity (employed full- or part-time entrepreneurship, volunteer work or social or political commitment …) and “releasing” the worker of obligation of the wage, according to some advocates of universal income

See our map. the universal income and experiments

• on what text the Swiss have voted?

the Swiss expressed on a popular initiative of a group claiming to ” independent of any party or group policy “ and the origin of a petition with over 126,000 signatures. The federal popular initiative is a Swiss civil right for citizens to submit a proposal for the referendum to change the constitution.

The text of this vote is minimalist. It proposes to introduce “the introduction of an unconditional basic income” (RBI) for “allow the entire population to lead a dignified life and to participate in public life “, the law setting ” including the financing and the amount of basic income “ key issues.

” the amount of RBI n is intentionally not fixed in the initiative for it to be adjusted for cost of living or increased “, justifies Kundig Ralph, president of the Swiss branch of the global network Basic Income Earth network (BIEN ).

the initiative, however, suggests a monthly fee of 2,500 Swiss francs per adult (2250 euros) and 625 Swiss francs (565 euros) for minors, an amount that may seem very high for a french look, but that’s not much when you consider the standard of living in Switzerland. In 2014, the median salary it was indeed to 6,189 francs (5579 euros) and a proposal for introducing a minimum wage fixed at 4,000 Swiss francs per month (3,600 euros), far from SMIC french to 1466 euros gross

Read also:. The “universal income” between utopia and pragmatism

• What cost and what financing?

the payment of basic income as envisaged by the collective initiators would require 208 billion Swiss francs (188 billion euros ), officials said. If the majority would be filled by the suppression of assistance and social insurance, would lack about 25 billion Swiss francs (22.5 billion euros). Supporters of RBI suggest, themselves, the introduction of a tax on electronic transactions, set at 0.2%, would generate 200 billion Swiss francs (180 billion euros), allowing full funding of the measure .

The government is also concerned that fewer people decide to work, which would generate additional tax losses. Supporters of RBI them ensure that, firstly, only a very small number of workers (2-5% depending on the study) will not want to work, and on the other hand, income responds to changes of society, especially caused by the increasing presence of robots, which generates high unemployment.

for those who continue to work, opponents of the RBI fear a devaluation of work and lower wages. Supporters, themselves, consider that it would allow employees to negotiate their wages with more flexibility and to refuse too heavy work or poor working conditions.

The text was unlikely to be voted . Late 2015, the parliament recommended the rejection of the initiative, deemed “dangerous” both in terms of immigration and the Swiss social system, with “the amounts set too high for those who do not need it, and too modest to those in need, “ by socialist Paul Rechsteiner.

But supporters of the RBI meet the still wide feedback given to the idea of ​​a basic income through the vote. They did not skimp on communication with shock action, as the largest poster in the world (8000 m²), held in May in Geneva, or a distribution of 10 000 Swiss francs (9,000 euros) in denominations of 10 francs in March in Zurich, or the dumping of 8 million pieces of 5 cents in 2013 and again in March 2016. Daniel Häni, one of the fathers of the initiative, the Swiss will vote “no” indeed but it is a journey of step “to prepare Switzerland” . “In twenty years we will have the unconditional basic income, perhaps even earlier” , he confided in March the Swiss daily Time .

Read also: universal income, genealogy of a utopia