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
American Economic Review article “The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families”
An article on the impact of cash transfers on longevity was published in the April 2016 volume of the American Economic Review, a highly distinguished peer-reviewed journal published by the American Economic Association.
VIDEO: Musician and Writer Frances Coppola on Basic Income
Frances Coppola is a musician, singer, finance writer, and former banker, who has written extensively on basic income. In this video, she talks about unconditional basic income as way of “enabling people to do things that they’re really good at”
ZAMBIA: Household Spending exceeds Unconditional Cash Transfers with 59% within three years: a Randomized Controlled Trial
In a recent review, the World Bank estimates that around 150 countries in the ‘developing world' have implemented cash assistance programmes, which together reach approximately 800 million people. The impact of such programmes in sub-Saharan Africa was...
New York Times symposium, “Easing the Pain of Automation”
On October 4, The New York Times published a symposium called “Easing the Pain of Automation”, which raised the issue of universal basic income among other strategies for managing the prospect of technological unemployment.
VIDEO: Scott Santens discusses basic income at The Atlantic’s Future of Work Summit
At the Future of Work Summit in Chicago, Atlantic editor Steve Clemons interviewed basic income advocate Scott Santens about his personal experience crowdfunding his own basic income, as well as the potential for a basic income in the United States.
VIDEO: Basic Income debated on CNN (Chris Hughes & Eduardo Porter)
On October 16, Chris Hughes (Facebook co-founder) and Eduardo Porter (NY Times columnist) debated basic income on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria. Arguing in support of basic income, Hughes not only emphasized that job security is falling, but also that Americans are...
MALMÖ, SWEDEN: Swedish Human Rights Conference (Nov 16)
BIEN co-founder and honorary co-president Guy Standing will be speaking about basic income as a human right at the Swedish Forum for Human Rights, which will be held in Malmö on November 16.
Grantcoin Distributed to 750 People in 69 Countries
The Grantcoin Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit, distributes digital currency in the form of unconditional basic income grants. Grantcoin is the first cryptocurrency managed and distributed by an NPO. On October 1st, Grantcoin made its second distribution of basic...
International: BIEN’s Clarification of UBI
BIEN clarified its definition of ‘basic income’ at its 2016 General Assembly and voted on the type of basic income BIEN supports.
AUSTRALIA: Basic Income discussion at ACOSS National Conference (Nov 18)
The 2016 Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) National Conference, convening in Sydney on November 17-18, will include a discussion of the topic “Should Australia Implement a Basic Income?
US: Washington DC think tank releases report on universal child benefit
The Niskanen Center, a libertarian think tank based in Washington DC, has produced a new report on the potential of universal child benefit: “Toward a Universal Child Benefit” by Samuel Hammond and Robert Orr. The report proposes an unconditional benefit of $2000 annually for every child under the age of 18, which would be phased out for higher-income families.
Stewart Lansley and Howard Reed, “Universal Basic Income: An idea whose time has come?”
Stewart Lansley (University of Bristol and City University) and Howard Reed (Landman Economics) co-authored an extensive report on basic income for the British think tank Compass earlier this year. They summarize their findings in a post at the LSE blog.