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The
plan, proposed by a group of intellectuals, could make the country the
first in the world to pay all of its citizens a monthly basic income
regardless if they work or not.
But
the initiative has not gained much traction among politicians from left
and right despite the fact that a referendum on it was approved by the
federal government for the ballot box on June 5.
Under the proposed initiative, each child would also receive € 130.82 a week.
The federal government estimates the cost of the proposal at € 97.43 billion a year.
Around € 138.05 bn would have to be levied from taxes, while € 49.62 bn would be transferred from social insurance
and social assistance spending.
The
group proposing the initiative, which includes artists, writers and
intellectuals, cited a survey which shows that the majority of Swiss
residents would continue working if the guaranteed income proposal was
approved.
'The
argument of opponents that a guaranteed income would reduce the
incentive of people to work is therefore largely contradicted,' it said
in a statement quoted by The Local.
However,
a third of the 1,076 people interviewed for the survey by the Demoscope
Institute believed that 'others would stop working'.
And more than half of those surveyed (56 percent) believe the guaranteed income proposal will never see the light of day.
