Media of Switzerland

It Looks Like Switzerland Has Said 'No' To Universal Basic Income

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• published: 05 Jun 2016
• views: 7709

It looks like Switzerland is saying "no" to universal basic income.  Swiss media reports early results on Sunday show more than three-quarters of voters opposed the measure, which would've guaranteed that every adult citizen earned a little more than $2,500 each month, regardless of if they worked.  The measure was proposed to both help those who've lost jobs to machines and to take advantage of machine productivity to let people work shorter weeks.   Supporters also said the measure could lessen inequality and reward people whose work benefits society but is unpaid.  "It's care work. It's at home. It's in different communities. So that work will be more valued with a basic income," a campaigner for basic income said.  But virtually all of Switzerland's political parties had urged citizens to reject the measure.  The Swiss government estimated basic income alone would've cost at least three times more than it spent in a year.  Before voting closed Sunday, one Swiss research institution predicted 78 percent of voters were against the basic income plan.  The referendum will likely have a rippling effect. Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, India and Brazil are all considering basic income in some form.  This video includes clips from SwissInfo, Al Jazeera, Swiss Parliament, BBC, PBS, CNN and RT. Music provided courtesy of APM Music.  Newsy is your source for concise, unbiased video news and analysis covering the top stories from around the world. With persistent curiosity and no agenda, we strive to fuel meaningful conversations by highlighting multiple sides of every story. Newsy delivers the news and perspective you need without the hype and bias common to many news sources. See more at http://www.newsy.com/ Like Newsy on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/newsyvideos/