Minna Ylikännö: Ubi and ongoing social security reform. Presentation at seminar Reforming social security – What can we learn from basic income experiments? 17.12.2021.

1. UBI and the ongoing
parliamentary work for reforming
Finnish social security system
Reforming social security – What can we learn from basic
income experiments? –seminar, 17 December 2021

2. We need a new direction
• We have become estranged from the Nordic welfare state
model, where tax funds are used to share the common good
and at the same time used to share old and new social risks
• Social differences have intensified and we no longer feel like
we are “in the same boat”
• Trust in other people and social institutions has declined
• Also, fertility has declined
• Long-term (structural) unemployment has increased
• Also, mental health problems (especially among younger
generations) have increased
6.4.2022
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3. What we know about the reasons behind ill-being
- Global threats: climate
change, social unrest,
automation of work
- Society's (too) high
expectations for
educational attainment
and success in the
labour market
- Structural changes in the
labour market and loss of
jobs (that are not coming
back)
- Lack of confidence in the
future
- Livelihood uncertainty
- Social segregation
6.4.2022
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Olof Palme in
Helsinki, 31 July
1975

4. Why UBI seems such a attractive option?
• The choices made in the development of the social security
system tell a lot about society and the attitudes and values that
prevail in it
• The growing debate about UBI or the like is about the distribution
of values in societies - we are not moving towards a common
people's home but drifting apart
• One might argue that we live in a mental vacuum that needs to be
filled with something - is the UBI debate more broadly about the
desire to return to common campfires?
• Or whether it is a selfish desire to secure one's own livelihood
when it cannot be obtained from the labor market?
6.4.2022
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5. Reforming social security
• In Finland, social security reform takes
place in years 2020-2027
• The reform is being prepared by a
parliamentary committee, supported by five
chambers
• The reform is closely linked to other key
reforms of the PM Sanna Marin’s government
program, such as the reform of social and
health services, the work ability program and
reforms on public employment services
• Some issues (e.g. relating to labour market
equilibrium) needs to addressed in the short
term
• There is a need for more comprehensive
system reform, but on the other hand small
and agile fast fail experiments are needed to
bring about the necessary societal and social
changes before the end of the decade
Bismarck was motivated to
introduce social insurance in
Germany both in order to
promote the well-being of
workers in order to keep the
German economy operating at
maximum efficiency, and to
stave-off calls for more radical
socialist alternatives.
The aim of the social security
reform is a clearer and more
efficient system from a human
point of view, which makes it
possible to reconcile work and
social security in changing life
situations. The aim is the long-
term structural and operational
development of social security
6.4.2022
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