A new proposal in Switzerland which will see all citizens receive a Universal Basic Income (UBI) will go to vote this June.
Campaigners for the initiative have suggested adults receive £1,784 (2,500 francs) and children £446 (625 francs) a month, saying it will help eradicate poverty and welfare dependence.
However, the vote, which will take place on June 5th, will simply be whether to support the idea or not, with Gabriel Barta from Basic Income Earth Network, saying it could take at least a decade to implement.
The idea will see everyone being given enough money to live, whether they work or not, and will according to The Local, will ensure “people’s self-worth isn’t tied to their job.”
"We need a basic income to allow each person to be his or her own entrepreneur, to choose what work he or she does,” Gabriel told Switzerland’s The Local.
Opposing the idea, Michael Gerfin, an economist at the University of Bern, said that it will encourage more people, especially women, to stay at home and not work.
"For those people who are not earning 2,500 francs and they maybe even don’t want to earn more because they are mothers and want to work part time, it’s an incentive to stay at home,” he explained to the publication.
