If you give people $,1000 a month, no strings attached, will they pocket the money and do nothing with their lives (nothing, that is, that’s socially useful)? Or, will they use the $1,000 as a platform to earn more money and live a richer, more productive life?

This question is at the heart of the debate over basic income, a radical social policy idea that’s been getting a lot of attention recently. Last year, Finland announced a big experiment in basic income, and several other countries and cities are seriously considering it, including four in the Netherlands: Utrecht, Tilburg, Groningen, and Wageningen.

To some, basic income sounds like an expensive give-away–something we can’t afford at a time when public budgets are under pressure as never before. To others, it is a way to fix problems in the welfare system, a means to incentivize work, and a necessary adjustment in the age of automation when well-paying low-skill jobs are likely to be fewer and further between.

In Utrecht, Heleen de Boer, a councilor for the Green Party, likes the idea because she thinks it will encourage welfare claimants to play more of a role in society. “We think social welfare as it is today is very demotivating, because people have to search for a job, do all these administrative things, and they have little money,” she says.

“They’re not [allowed] to have a small job, and people are obliged to look for a job that just isn’t there. That’s bad for their self-image. We think if we let people be free, they’ll be more able to think about things they want to do, like starting a company, or doing jobs with small hours. They’ll be more a part of society.”

Utrecht has applied to the Dutch central government to conduct a welfare experiment called “See What Works.” This will compare the effect of four types of basic income plus a control. The first will give people about $980, ask nothing in return, and allow as much work as people want (a pure version of basic income). The second will require people to volunteer–say, to do shopping for a elderly person–and take money away if people don’t volunteer. The third will offer extra money if people volunteer. And, a fourth will give people money, but not allow them to work.