Finland's unemployed to be given basic income of 560 euros per month in first such experiment in Europe

It's highly interesting to see how it makes people behave," Mr Kangas said. "Will this lead them to boldly experiment with different kinds of jobs? Or, as some critics claim, make them lazier with the knowledge of getting a basic income without doing anything?"

The unemployment rate of Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, stood at 8.1 percent in November with some 213,000 people without a job - unchanged from the previous year.

The scheme is part of the measures by the centre-right government of Prime Minister Juha Sipila to tackle Finland's joblessness problem.

Mr Kangas said the basic income experiment may be expanded later to other low-income groups such as freelancers, small-scale entrepreneurs and part-time workers.