5 people from around the world share what it's like to get free 'basic income

Basic income is having quite the moment.Essentially a salary paid to people just for being alive, the idea hastaken hold as a straightforward, non-partisan meansto reduce wealth inequality, lift people from poverty, and increase life satisfaction.Basic income experiments are underway in a number of countries, including Finland, the US, and Kenya. Many more experiments are expected to beginin 2017.Here's what recipients have said about getting free cash.SEE ALSO:Elon Musk doubles down on universal basic income: 'It's going to be necessary'Scott Santens, New Orleans-based writerSantens is perhaps the foremost advocate for basic income today. He's also a recipient. Since 2015, he has been receiving $1,000 a month in donationsvia the crowdfunding site Patreon.In the two years since receiving his first basic income, Santens has said the biggest benefits are newfound freedom to pursue work he enjoys and the security knowing he can cover emergency costs. He also says basic income can fix an imbalance of public trust based on money."UBI looks at this system of trust maldistribution and says everyone should be given a minimum amount of trust, because the way we currently use pieces of paper to measure and distribute trust is fatally flawed without it," he toldBusiness Insider.Philip, Kenyan day laborerAs its name implies, the charity GiveDirectly has been transferring cash to people in East Africa for the past several years. Last fall, GiveDirectly launched a trial version of a larger experiment that will pay out basic income to 6,000 people over 12 years. It's set to take place later this year.Many of the recipients have little education and work in manual-labor jobs. Philip, 32, first received $99 and then $491 a few months later. It's more than most people make in a year and a half in Kenya, and it let him build his own house."I had lost the hope of living a good life and again I will never stay in a rented house again," he said.Frans Kerver, Dutch copywriterFor 12 months between July 2015 and July 2016, Kerver received $1,100 a monthno strings attached. It was given to him by alocal basic income advocacy group called MIES (translation: Society for Innovations in Economics and Community).Kerver was working 12-hour days as a freelance copywriter before his basic income showed up. His family barely saw him. Once the extra cash started coming in, Kerver could afford to take fewer project and spend more time with his wife and kids."It's better when you work a little less and have some leisure time with family and friends," he told Business Insider last March. "I think it keeps you fresh."See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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