Swiss say ‘no’ to universal basic income
It’s shortened to UBI and is gaining steam, but the Swiss are rejecting it.
Click here for reuse options!National projections showed 78 percent of voters had opposed the initiative, according to numbers provided by the gfs.bern polling institute to public broadcaster RTS an hour after polls closed at noon (1000 GMT).
Most Swiss vote in advance by post, so a large majority of ballots had already been counted, and gfs.bern put the margin of error at just plus/minus three percent.
In a global first, the Swiss were asked whether they wanted all citizens, along with foreigners who have been legal residents for at least five years, to receive an unconditional basic income, or UBI.
Supporters say providing such an income would help fight poverty and inequality in a world where good jobs with steady salaries are increasingly hard to come by.
The group behind the initiative has suggested paying 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,500/2,300 euros) a month to each adult — considerably less than most workers earn — and 625 francs for each child.
But the idea was controversial from the start, with the government and nearly all political parties urging voters to reject the scheme.
Copyright 2016 Liberaland
3 responses to Swiss say ‘no’ to universal basic income
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Mike June 5th, 2016 at 11:03
Give it 50 more years
In a future where robots and software do most, if not all, necessary tasks, UBI will have an entirely different meaning.
mea_mark June 5th, 2016 at 11:40
Voters voting against their own best interest because some one tells them to, now where have we seen this before?
robert June 5th, 2016 at 16:27
The group behind the initiative has suggested paying 2,500 Swiss francs
($2,500/2,300 euros) a month to each adult — >>>>considerably less than most
workers earn<<<<< — and 625 francs for each child.
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it sounds like there could be republicans undercutting the deal, No surprise it was rejected