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]

Recent News, Opinion, and Research
WASHINGTON, DC, US: Basic Income action at Martin Luther King Memorial
American basic income activists will convene at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in the nation’s capitol, where they will set up a multi-media display to commemorate King’s support for a guaranteed income.
“Can Less Work be More Fair?” – Report from Australia’s Green Institute
The Green Institute, an Australian non-profit organization devoted to education and action concerning green politics, has published a collection of essays on the ideas of universal basic income and a shorter working week (Can Less Work Be More Fair?, December 2016).
Finland: Interview with Tapani Karvinen, from the Pirate party
As we've reported here, the Finnish government is starting a two-year experiment on a basic income. When the government announced it in last August, a Basic Income News editor conducted a series of interviews in Finland. Summaries of those with the government and a...
IRELAND: Papers and Cartoons from “Basic Income – Radical Utopia or Practical Solution?” conference available
Conference papers are now available in a book (“Basic Income – Radical Utopia or Practical Solution?”), available for download, with summaries also available in cartoon format.
VIDEO: “Time for Basic Income in Scotland?” – Keynote at BIEN-Scotland launch
BIEN’s Scottish affiliate, Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland, was launched in Glasgow in November 2016. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Guy Standing. Here’s a video.
Remembering Sir Tony Atkinson (1944-2017)
Sir Anthony (“Tony”) Atkinson, a distinguished economist best known for his work on inequality, passed away on January 1, 2017. Atkinson was Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.
AUDIO/VIDEO: Christchurch, NZ councilor and economist Raf Manji advocates Basic Income
Raf Manji, a Christchurch City Councillor, has promoted a universal basic income in recent media appearances, including an interview on Radio New Zealand and a TEDx talk in Christchurch. He sees basic income as part of a new social contract, arguing that we need to reconceive the idea of citizenship.
OBITUARY: Sir Tony Atkinson, economist and “gentleman scholar”
Sir Anthony (“Tony”) Atkinson, a distinguished economist best known for his work on inequality, passed away on January 1, 2017, aged 72.
VIDEO: Rudy Karsan on Meaningful Work and Entitlement to a Universal Basic Income
Rudy Karsan, co-founder and former CEO of the former human resource software company Kenexa (sold to IBM in 2012) recently held a TEDx talk in Calgary where he advocated a universal basic income as a means of stimulating innovation. “We are in the golden age of our...
VIDEO: “Universal Basic Income: New Avenues in Social Welfare Policy” course lectures
The University of Tampere held a course on basic income (“Universal Basic Income: New Avenues in Social Welfare Policy”) during autumn semester. Lectures from the course were recorded and published online by Alusta!
AUDIO: “Basic Income & Women’s Liberation”
The UK-based activist network Radical Assembly interviewed Barb Jacobson (Basic Income UK, Unconditional Basic Income Europe) about basic income and women’s liberation movements.
BIEN Stories: Louise Haagh
Louise Haagh (BIEN Co-Chair) I first came across basic income in summer of 2001 when instructed about it by Workers’ Party Senator Eduardo Suplicy, at his home in São Paulo. I was doing research on workers’ rights, at the same time undertaking a survey of economic...