Helmut Melzer
Every second German - exactly: 52 percent - is now in favor of the introduction of an unconditional basic income. Only one in five (22 percent) speaks against it. This was the result of a current cross-country study by the market and opinion research institute Ipsos, which unfortunately did not give the opinion of the Austrians.
In international comparison, Germany is behind Serbia and Poland, where 67 and 60 percent of respondents favor a universal basic income. The lowest intercession receives the basic income in Spain (31 percent) and France (29 percent). There it is rejected by almost every second respondent (45 percent or 46 percent). In the US (per 38 percent) and in the UK (33 percent approval, 38 percent rejection), approval and rejection are nearly equal. Six out of ten (59 percent) of respondents in Germany believe that a basic income could reduce poverty in their country, only one in eight Germans (13 percent) contradicts.
The referendum in Switzerland 2016 spoke a different language: 78 percent were against a BGE of 2.500 francs. However, the reasons for the negative attitude were, among other things, doubts about the financing. In addition, the government was also negative to the BGE.
