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The issue of theuniversal basic income gained prominence on the political agenda inNetherlands between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s[1][2] but it has disappeared from the political agenda over the last fifteen years.
The political discussion on basic income was initiated in 1975 byLeo Jansen, an MP for the progressive ChristianPolitical Party of Radicals (PPR) andVrije Universiteit professorJ. P. Kuiper. In 1977 the issue had been incorporated in theelection manifestos of the PPR. The idea was also endorsed by several smaller trade unions of theFederation of Dutch Labour Unions.[2]
In 1985, theScientific Council for Government Policy, an independentthink tank of the Dutch government, endorsed a partial basic income.[3] However, the council's proposals were never acted upon. The PPR and the trade unions which favoured the basic income rejected the Council's proposals because the proposed basic income would be too low and implementation would be accompanied by abolition of theminimum wage.[2] The proposal of the Scientific Council broadened, however, the debate and the issue is debated upon in the social-democraticLabour Party, the conservative liberalPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the progressive liberalDemocrats 66, but these parties did not adopt the basic income in their programs. In 1989 the PPR merged into theGreenLeft, with thePacifist Socialist Party (PSP), theCommunist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and theEvangelical People's Party. In early 1990s the GreenLeft was ambiguous to the idea of a basic income, not endorsing it in its 1989 election manifesto,[2] but debating the issue in several publications.[4]
In 1992 the debate is re-opened by theBureau for Economic Policy Analysis, an economic advisory body of the government, which like the Scientific Council endorsed a low basic income as part of simplified social security system. By 1995 the basic income was a prominent issue on the Dutch political agenda. The issue continued to be debated by political parties; the Labour Party debated the issue in its 1994 election manifesto but still rejected it.[5] The GreenLeft, however, endorsed anegative income tax in its 1994 election manifesto, which in the long term could be made into a basic income, according to the party.[6] In 1994 D66 ministerHans Wijers publicly favoured the basic income, leading to negative reactions by his colleagues in cabinet.[2] D66 endorsed his position in 1995,[7] but did not incorporate it in its 1998 election manifesto.[8]
After the success of thefirst cabinet-Kok to implement its agenda of "work, work, work" and increase the levels of employment the debate about the basic income lost attention and momentum. A welfare state policy oriented at the activation of the unemployed became accepted by nearly all parties.[9]
In 2006,Femke Halsema, leader of theGreenLeft, endorsed a partial basic income[10] and her ideas were taken over in the party's 2006election manifesto.[11]
In 2013, thePolitical Party for Basic Income was founded. It has universal basic income as their main focus.
In 2017, the city ofUtrecht, along with a few surrounding cities, initiated a basic income experiment with the participation of 250 recipients. The experiment was designed as a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of different methods of delivering financial assistance. Under the trial, some recipients were given the money unconditionally, while others were required to engage in volunteer work. The amount of money provided was approximately $1,050 per month.[12]
A prominent Dutch academic in the academic debate on the basic income isRobert Jan van der Veen [nl], who also participated in theSeptember group ofPhilippe van Parijs.[2][13][14]
In no other advanced European welfare state has the BIG [i.e., Basic Income Guarantee] debate been so broad and lively as in the Netherlands. Since 1975, the idea of abasisinkomen has been discussed within many Dutch political parties, trade unions, social organizations, and even at the governmental level.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)Het heeft twintig jaar geduurd, twintig jaar van vallen en opstaan, maar anno 1995 is het basisinkomen--een onvoorwaardelijke, niet aan arbeidsprestatie gebonden inkomensgarantie voor iedere burger--een volwassen politiek ideaal geworden. [Trans: It has taken twenty years, twenty years of ups and downs, but in the year 1995 the basic income--an unconditional guaranteed income for every citizen which is not linked to work--has become a mature political ideal.]
{{cite book}}:|last= has generic name (help)