正文
芬兰公民拿无条件保障金后压力小、干劲高
让地球人羡慕嫉妒恨的全民保障金计划在芬兰试点开展了半年,效果如何呢?有些芬兰公民反映,自从领取无条件保障金后,心理压力减轻了,找工作的动力更足,也有更多时间去创业。但也有经济学家指出,全民保障金项目太过昂贵,会增加财政赤字,还会鼓励某些人不劳而获。
Finland has been giving 2,000 of its citizens an unconditional income for the last five months and some are already seeing the benefits, reporting decreased stress, greater incentives to find work and more time to pursue business ideas.
芬兰在过去五个月让2000位公民获得无条件收入,其中一些人已经感受到了这一福利的好处,他们报告说自己的压力减轻,找工作的动力更足,也有更多时间去实践商业构想。
The scheme is the first of its kind in Europe and sees participants receive €560 every month for two years.
这个项目在欧洲是首创,参与者连续两年每个月都能得到560欧元(合4278元人民币)的收入。
Recipients do not have to demonstrate that they are seeking employment and they are not required to regularly report to authorities to prove they still need the payment, as is the case with standard unemployment benefits. They can spend the money however they like.
受助者不必证明自己正在待业,也不用像领受标准失业补助一样,需要定期向当局证明他们还需要这份补助金。这笔钱他们可以想怎么花就怎么花。
Under the pilot, if a participant finds work, they will continue to receive the stipend, removing one of the limitations of current welfare systems - the disincentive to find work.
这个试点项目中,如果参与者找到了工作,他们将继续领受这份补助,免去了现行福利系统的限制条件,这一限制条件降低了人们找工作的积极性。
The trial is one measure introduced by the centre-right government to tackle Finland's unemployment problem.
这一试点是芬兰的中右翼政府为解决芬兰失业问题而引进的解决方案。
Juha Jarvinen, an unemployed young father in a village near Jurva, western Finland, was picked at random to receive the payment, starting in January this year. He told the Economist that, unlike when he was receiving standard unemployment payments, he is now actively seeking work.
尤哈•雅维宁是芬兰西部尤尔瓦附近的一个村庄的一名待业的年轻父亲,他被随机选中成为保障金受益人,从今年一月份开始领取。他告诉《经济学人》杂志说,和他领受标准失业补助时不同,他现在正在积极地找工作。
He had previously been offered a few part-time positions but taking them would make no sense, since it would jeopardise his welfare payments. “It is crazy, so no one will take a bit of work,” he said.
他先前曾得到过几次兼职工作的机会,但是做这些兼职毫无意义,因为这样就会危及他的福利补助。他说:“这种事很让人抓狂,所以没人会去揽一些小活儿。”
He said he is also in the process of starting a business, is much less stressed and no longer has to go through the “silly show” of filling out forms or attending regular interviews with employment agency officials.
他说,他还筹备着创业,心理压力比以前小多了,也不再需要走过场地填一堆表格,或定期接受就业署官员的审查。
“I’m an artist and entrepreneur. Sometimes I’m too active, I don’t have time to stop,” he said.
他说:“我是一位艺术家,也是一位企业家。有时候我太活跃了,我没有时间停下来。”
Not everyone is impressed by the pilot scheme, however. In February, Finland’s biggest union said the experiment was unaffordable and would encourage some people to work less while driving up wages in undesirable professions.
然而,不是每个人都对这个试点项目点头称道。今年二月份,芬兰最大的工会团体称,芬兰没有足够的资金来支撑这一试验,而且无条件补助会鼓励一些人不劳而获,还会抬高那些没人愿意干的职业的工资。
“We think it takes social policy in the wrong direction,” Ilkka Kaukoranta, chief economist of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), told Bloomberg.
芬兰工会中央总会的首席经济学家伊尔卡•考可兰塔告诉彭博社说:“我认为这是往错误的方向推行社会政策。”
The union, which represents almost 1 million members, or a fifth of the Finnish population, said the model being tested is, “impossibly expensive, since it would increase the government deficit by about 5 percent” of gross domestic product.
芬兰工会中央总会有近100万工会会员,占芬兰人口的五分之一。工会总会称,这个试点项目“惊人的昂贵,因为这会将政府(国内生产总值)赤字增加约5%”。
In March, Ontario, Canada's largest province, announced it was trialling a similar universal basic income scheme.
今年三月份,加拿大最大省安大略省宣布,该省正在试点一个相似的全民基本收入计划。
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the scheme was needed to address “new challenges” presented by the modern economy.
安大略省省长凯思琳•韦恩说,这一计划是为了应对现代经济带来的“新挑战”。