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BriefSOCIETY

Universal Basic Income AI Displacement Pilot UBI-Lab Releases Midterm Report: What EUR 600 Per Month Changed

Finland's government-funded UBI-Lab pilot provides 5,000 AI-automated workers with EUR 600 monthly unconditional basic income for 18 months, midterm report shows improved mental health but no significant employment increase

Universal Basic Income AI Displacement Pilot UBI-Lab Releases Midterm Report

On March 14, 2029, Finland's government-funded UBI-Lab project released its midterm evaluation report. The pilot provided 5,000 Finnish workers displaced by AI automation with EUR 600 monthly unconditional basic income for 18 months. The report's core finding: recipients' mental health and life satisfaction improved significantly, but re-employment rates showed no statistically significant difference compared to the control group.

UBI-Lab project lead and University of Helsinki social policy professor Olli Kangas said: "Basic income eliminated the existential anxiety of unemployment. Recipients' depression symptom scores dropped an average of 32%, and family relationship satisfaction increased 28%. But surprisingly, these psychological improvements did not translate into higher job-seeking motivation."

During the 18-month pilot, the re-employment rate in the UBI recipient group was 34%, compared to 31% in the control group (continuing traditional unemployment benefits). The 3 percentage point difference was not statistically significant. Further analysis found that 12% of recipients chose to use their basic income for vocational retraining, and this subgroup's employment prospects after the pilot were significantly better than others.

Finland's Ministry of Finance expressed caution about the results. Finance Minister Riikka Purra said: "EUR 600 monthly basic income is affordable for 5,000 people, but if expanded to all workers displaced by AI nationally — estimated at 150,000 by 2030 — annual fiscal expenditure would exceed EUR 1 billion. We need to see clearer employment effects before supporting large-scale expansion."

ILO social protection director Shauna Olney gave a positive assessment: "Finland is the first country globally to conduct a UBI pilot specifically for AI-displaced workers. Even without significant employment improvements, mental health improvement is itself an important result — unemployment's impact on people is not just economic but deeply psychological."