Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a plan that would provide all citizens with a guaranteed basic income. The proposal called for all adults to be paid an unconditional monthly income, regardless of need. Many of those who supported the proposal suggested [BBC report] a monthly income of 2500 Swiss francs for every adult and 625 francs for every child. However, the results of the vote on Sunday showed [BBC report] that almost 77 percent of the population opposed the plan. Beyond the lack of support by the public, very few politicians have supported the idea. The majority of those opposing the plan were concerned [NYT report] at the cost to society as a whole to fund such a project as well as the message it would send to compensate those who did not work. Other regions such as Finland and the Dutch city of Utretch are also considering similar measures.

Income for all and income equality movements [JURIST backgrounder] have increased over recent years. In 2014 Swiss citizens also rejected [BBC report] a measure to give Switzerland the world’s highest minimum wage. That measure would have raised the Swiss minimum wage to 22 francs an hour. However, like the most recent referendum, that measure was rejected by over three-fourths of the population. Other political measures such as a deportation referendum [JURIST report] were also rejected by the Swiss citizens earlier this year.