In June, the City Council of Utrecht in The Netherlands announced that starting January 2016, a few lucky residents will receive a monthly stipend to cover their basic needs with no strings attached. That means that the recipients will have to do nothing in return and can spend the rest of their days lounging by a pool if they so wish.
Of course, the officials who are working on this social experiment with researchers from the University of Utrecht, hope that will not be the case. Instead, they believe a guaranteed basic income will motivate residents more than the current welfare program that is conditional on them seeking a job.