A Basic Income is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement.
The Royal Society of Arts Explains: [2 minutes]
BIEN Congresses
The next annual BIEN Congress will occur August 19th-22th at the Toronto Metropolitan University. The BIEN Congress will not be occurring in USA this year.
Theme: Basic Income and the Polycrisis: The Key to Unlocking the Puzzle 🔑
See pictures from the 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói here.
Recent News, Opinion, and Research
Ireland Makes Basic Income Program for Artists Permanent
Photo by Alejandro Luengo on Unsplash The use of "Basic Income" in this article does not meet BIEN's definition "The Irish government will give 2,000 artists unrestricted weekly stipends, following a successful three-year basic income pilot program. Last week,...
150,000 Won Rural and Fishing Village Basic Income Launched in Korea
Photo by Chris Boland on Unsplash This version of basic income does not meet the BIEN definition "The rural and fishing village basic income pilot project began on the 26th. Through this project, which is President Lee Jae Myung’s presidential election pledge, the...
Andrew Yang warns that ‘The AI jobpocalypse is here’ and advocates for UBI
Photo by Peter T. Knight "“I believe that millions of white-collar workers are going to lose their jobs in the next 12 to 18 months due to AI,” Yang said in an Instagram video that’s garnered over 600,000 views. “AI is now able to do the work of a very, very smart...
Portland OR program hands pregnant women cash every month — and research says it works
Photo by Hollie Santos on Unsplash "A direct cash program for people who are pregnant and earning less than $39,000 a year launched this month in Multnomah County and is still accepting applications. A similar pilot program run by the county showed...
Peter Diamandis promotes Andrew Yang, UBI, and Scott Santens
"Let me tell you about a conversation that should scare the hell out of you. I sat down with Andrew Yang—the entrepreneur who made Universal Basic Income a household term during his 2020 presidential run—and asked him point-blank: How much time do we have? When...
Basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot evaluation: annual report 2025 to 2026
"The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot ('the pilot') was launched in July 2022. The first payments to 18-year-olds eligible for the scheme were made in August 2022 (‘Basic Income for care leavers: about the pilot’ Welsh Government, 2022). The evaluation of...
Happy New Year 2026 Basic Income Week Supporters
Now you can vote till end of February 2026 for a Motto to the 19th International Basic Income Week Mo-Su 14th-20th September 2026 #basicincomeweek19 at https://basicincomeweek.org/vote-your-motto-for-2026/ You can choose up to three different favorite mottos. If you...
The Precariat, Basic Income & the future of work — Extrapolate Podcast
Guy Standing, one of the founders of BIEN, was interviewed recently in a podcast by Rob Hof. To view a clip from the podcast in which Guy discusses Basic Income and AI, click here. To view the whole podcast, click here.
Doing Radical Things Right: Ethical Good Practice for Basic Income Experiments
AbstractIncreasing calls for reform to welfare provision have seen growing support forbasic income (BI) - the unconditional provision of cash transfers to all. As aresult, recent years have seen an exponential increase in the number of pilotexperiments of BI, across...
The Falling Cost of Basic Income in the United States, 1967-2024
Abstract This article estimates the cost of Universal Basic Income (UBI) sufficient to eliminate poverty in the United States. It uses the most recent microdata available from the Census Bureau through its Current Population Survey (CPS) public-use microdata files and...
The MOSAIC Model for universal high income
Income to Universal High Income An economic possibility — and a political choice. "The MOSAIC Model’s two core, non-invasive mechanisms capture only about one quarter of the AI dividend. That is enough to fund a lower-middle-class guaranteed income floor and eliminate...
UBI could be used to soften hit from AI job losses in UK, minister says
"The UK could introduce a universal basic income (UBI) to protect workers in industries that are being disrupted by AI, the investment minister Jason Stockwood has said. “Bumpy” changes to society caused by the introduction of the technology would mean there would...