A Basic Income for All?

In societies where people define their worth almost exclusively through their jobs, unemployment leads to a very particular type of social problems. Yet for Germany, no one really believes that full employment will simply materialize in the near future.

That's why a search is underway for finding new ways of looking at work and the material rewards for it.

German President Horst Köhler, Thuringia's conservative state premier Dieter Althaus and a considerable proportion of the opposition Green party's rank-and-file are all advocates of state-guaranteed basic income which is given to everyone by right of birth.

Financing without extra costs

Now, a new report says they're not just dreaming. The Hamburg-based Institute for World Economy found that the basic income model can be financed without any extra costs, if everyone were to get 400 euros ($534), plus an additional 200 euros for illness and nursing contributions.

To pay for it, a 49-percent tax would be levied on all manner of additional income.

The suggestion stems from frustration over a long-unsolved problem.

"I don't think it would be unfair to say that it's the disappointment with the labor market reforms that has prompted people to look for new answers," said the Greens' co-leader, Reinhard Bütikofer.

One of the most energetic supporters of an unconditional basic income is Götz Werner, who heads one of Germany’s largest drug store chains, "dm." He does not object to people getting a basic income whether they work or not.

"Real freedom only exists in a social environment where you can say 'no' to something that others want you to do without ending up in dire straights," Werner said. "People must be free to do what they themselves think is right."

Willingness to work

Bettina Brett, who's been doing odd jobs in an economically depressed region in eastern Germany, disagreed. She argued that only people willing to work should get basic income, but they should get more than 600 euros.

"Everyone who works should earn enough money," Brett said. "For many jobs, people are paid so little money, that it really borders on being slavery. I think for those people, a basic income of 800 to 1,000 euros would be ideal."

For the time being, most German labor market experts reject the concept of a basic income for all. They are afraid that something so revolutionary might have unforeseeable consequences.

After all, it would mean the dramatic restructuring of the country's entire social infrastructure.

Bütikofer said more research must be done.

"The more strict advocates of an unconditional basic income for everybody would move a very, very big wheel -- which would also mean moving hundreds of billions of euros," Bütikofer said. "Before we enter into such an adventurous strategy, we have to make sure we fully understand both the pros and cons of such a concept."