Finland Is Battling Poverty With Plans to Pay Citizens a "Basic Income" of $876 a Month

Finland is currently deep in plans to bring a highly debated poverty-battling concept to life in an effort to counteract the nation’s severely struggling economy. Officials are currently "finalizing a solution to poverty" that involves paying each of Finland’s 5.4 million people 876 tax-free bucks a month, according to Mashable. Finland’s move toward a "basic income" makes the nation the first in the European Union (and first major nation period) to universally adopt the idea.

The proposal, still in the drafting process, would also do away with unemployment lines, welfare benefits, and other benefits programs. Similar to such programs here in the States, Finland’s welfare benefits are based on household income. With this latest move, the "basic income" would be given to every citizen, rich or poor.

The potentially revolutionary concept comes at a time when the nation is facing an estimated 10 percent unemployment rate, a figure inspired a recent three-year recession. Though widely supported by "nearly all" of the nation’s political parties, the plan isn’t without controversy. A similar push for basic income reform in Switzerland became an abject failure, with those on both sides of the political divide criticizing the logistics and apparent cost of such a plan.