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
ONTARIO, CANADA: Public Service Union “Sounds Note of Caution” on BI
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, has issued a cautionary statement against the province’s interest in pursuing a basic income guarantee.
The left needs fresh ideas and a new language if it’s to win again
Rutger Bregman spares so-called liberals and progressives no punches in the online Guardian 8/19/16. Bregman castigates the Left for its pathetic failure in not seizing the moment after the 2008 U.S. “financial crisis... borne of blind faith in market wisdom and an...
KENYA: FROM UNCONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS TOWARDS UNCONDITIONAL BASIC INCOME, a Randomized Controlled Trial to Come
In a recent IMPAKTER interview, as part of a series exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Ian Bassin (Chief Operating Officer, Domestic, of GiveDirectly), explains how his organization is moving from unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) towards unconditional...
VIDEO: Karl Widerquist on US poverty and basic income
Karl Widerquist, BIEN co-chair and co-founder of Basic Income News, was interviewed on a TRT World program, The Newsmakers, as part of a special segment on poverty.
Paul Mason on Post-Capitalism and Universal Basic Income
British journalist and broadcaster Paul Mason, author of Post-Capitalism: A Guide to Our Future, recently delivered a lecture in Amsterdam in which he points out the need for a universal basic income as a partial solution to changes in the economy due to new technologies.
GOA, INDIA: Mining reform group releases Manifesto, calls for citizen’s dividend
The Goenchi Mati Movement advocates for the reform of mining practices in the Indian state of Goa. Among its proposals is the investment of all money from iron ore mining into a permanent fund, which would be used to finance a citizen’s dividend, similar to Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend.
Malcolm Torry, “How might we implement a citizen’s income?”
Malcolm Torry, director of the UK’s Citizen’s Income Trust (CIT) and co-secretary of BIEN, has prepared a report on implementing a citizen’s income (i.e. a basic income for UK citizens) for the Institute for Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW).
Re-inventing social security
The conditional character of the current social security system limits freedom to work.
Christian Engström, “A concrete and financed proposal for basic income in Sweden”
Former MEP Christian Engström has written a “concrete proposal” for a basic income guarantee in Sweden. Originally published online only in Swedish, Engström’s paper is now available in English.
NEW LINK: Livinggrant
Tim Rourke, who has been writing about basic income in Canada for over two decades, has a new blog dedicated to Basic Income. Read it here: https://blog.livingrant.ch/2016/09/08/a-position-on-the-ontario-basic-income-pilot-project/ Photo: CC
BIEN Celebrates Thirty Years: Basic income, a utopia for our times?
On Saturday October 1st 2016, the Basic Income Earth Network celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Catholic University of Louvain.
UGANDA: Two-year basic income pilot set to launch in 2017
Eight, a charitable organization based in Belgium, is preparing to run a basic income pilot in Uganda (as previously announced in Basic Income News). The two-year pilot is set to launch in January 2017, and will form the basis for a documentary.