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The European city planning to give its citizens free money

Politicians have adopted a motion to adopt a pilot scheme

Business Insider

Wednesday 20 April 2016 07:54 BST

Pont Bessières bridge in Lausanne (Serge Mercier/Flickr)

Lausanne is joining the growing list of places looking to experiment with a universal basic income.

Politicians in Lausanne have adopted a motion to carry out a pilot scheme for basic income in the city.

Lausanne's city council has taken on a non legally-binding motion for the experiment, passing it by 39 votes to 37 last week, the Basic Income Earth Network reports.

There aren't any concrete details yet about how any pilot scheme would work, other than that it would be similar to the experiment planned in Utrecht in the Netherlands.

It would only include a small sample of Lausanne's population, and require funding from regional and national governments.

Utrecht is set to experiment with a basic income scheme in which its population will be divided into different groups that receive different levels of welfare, including one in the form of an unconditional basic income.

Leonore Porchet, the President of Lausanne's Green Party — a group which heavily advocates the experiment — said: "Basic income offers a solid and securing social floor, as opposed to the fragile social safety net that we know today. The freedom provided by basic income encourages activity, social inclusion and innovation. In addition it values and support the ‘free’ work such as volunteer activities."

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

Show all 13

1/13The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

13. Postal service clerks

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.32 Median earned income: $51,000 What they do: Perform any combination of tasks in a post office like receive letters and parcels; sell postage and revenue stamps, postal cards, and stamped envelopes; fill out and sell money orders; place mail in pigeon holes of mail racks or in bags; and examine mail for correct postage.

Getty

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

12. Speech-language pathologists

Average hours typically worked a week: 36.17 Median earned income: $54,000 What they do: Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

11. Registered nurses

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.59 Median earned income: $56,000 What they do: Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing-care plans, and maintain medical records.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

10. Psychologists

Average hours typically worked a week: 36.75 Median earned income: $56,000 What they do: Diagnose or evaluate mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observations, interviews, and psychological tests and formulate and administer programs of treatment.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

9. Chiropractors

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.75 Median earned income: $60,000 What they do: Assess, treat, and care for patients by manipulation of spine and musculoskeletal system.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

8. Occupational therapists

Average hours typically worked a week: 36.02 Median earned income: $60,000 What they do: Provide rehabilitative treatments and procedures that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

7. Technical writers

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.61 Median earned income: $62,000 What they do: Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

6. Physical therapists

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.43 Median earned income: $63,000 What they do: Assess, plan, organise, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.

Rex Features

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

5. Audiologists

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.77 Median earned income: $64,000 What they do: Assess and treat people with hearing and related disorders.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

4. Radiation therapists

Average hours typically worked a week: 38.40 Median earned income: $70,000 What they do: Provide radiation therapy to patients as prescribed by a radiologist according to established practices and standards.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

3. Optometrists

Average hours typically worked a week: 39.03 Median earned income: $100,000 What they do: Diagnose, manage, and treat conditions and diseases of the human eye and visual system.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

2. Pharmacists

Average hours typically worked a week: 38.38 Median earned income: $102,000 What they do: Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use.

The 13 highest-paying jobs with less than 40 hours per week

1. Dentists

Average hours typically worked a week: 37.83 Median earned income: $130,000 What they do: Examine, diagnose, and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums.

The premise of basic income is pretty simple: give people a monthly cash injection to cover living expenses such as food, transport, clothes, and utilities, regardless of their income, social status, or anything else for that matter. No questions asked.

The idea behind universal basic income is that giving everyone the same amount of cash gets rid of overly bureaucratic, complicated welfare states, and makes ensuring all citizens have a decent standard of living much easier.

It has supporters on both sides of the political spectrum, with right-wingers liking the removal of government interference it brings, and those on the left favouring the lifetime safety net for lower income people it provides.

Switzerland will hold a referendum on the introduction of basic income in June, and though the Swiss parliament is opposed to any scheme, citizens could well vote in its favour.

Along with the Swiss referendum, and Utrecht's pilot, Finland's government has also expressed an interest in introducing basic income, and Canadian province Ontario will trial basic income, it was reported in March.

Read more:

• Barack Obama says Britain is a 'free rider'
• These tweets nail the absurdity of many tech offices
• 4 reasons why the Irish economy killed it in 2015

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2015. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.

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