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 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
Linkedin, Instagram, X – biencongress25 (at) gmail [dot] com
BIEN2024 was August 29–31 (Pictures and more coming soon)
Recent News, Opinion, and Research
BIEN 2022 Congress: Day 1 Summary
Today saw an electric start to BIEN2022, a coming-together of the world’s most dynamic thinkers, activists and ideas focused on the understanding and promotion of Basic Income. Following the success of 2021’s Congress help in Edinburgh, Scotland, the 2022...
Newly Released: Basic Income and Local Government; A Guide to Municipal Pilots in the US
The Stanford Basic Income Lab, National League of Cities and Guaranteed Income Community of Practice have just released Basic Income and Local Government; A Guide to Municipal Pilots. This guide consolidates learning and spotlights principles, insights, and emerging...
Cook County, Illinois (includes Chicago) launching 2-year guaranteed income pilot
At a press conference on September 14th, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle publicly announced the landmark Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot. This is the largest publicly funded guaranteed income program in the US. The County will provide $500...
Basic Income Pilot for Homeless in Denver, Colorado
For one year, Denver will provide 140 people experiencing homelessness $12,000 with no strings attached as part of a program testing universal basic income. Read the details here,
Letter to Members of the European Parliament re UBI
You can read here a letter and its annex that we, UBI-EI (Unconditional Basic Income – European Initiative), are sending to all MEPs (Member of European Parliaments) in an attempt to steer the current EU - wide conversation about the “Minimum Income” towards a social...
New Book on Basic Income in the World
This book -- written by Marek Hrubec, Martin Brabec, and Marketa Minarova -- "offers an introduction to the important idea and practice of unconditional basic income, which is becoming a topic increasingly discussed not only among researchers but also among citizens...
Basic Income Week 2022: 19-25 September
We are heading to the 15th International Basic Income Week. Social media appearance is here https://basicincomeweek.org/downloads2022/ Just keep the date and brainstorm about new ideas to make Basic Income enter this new era! #basicincomeweek15. Read all the details...
Large Basic Income for Artists pilot launched in Ireland
On 8 September 2022, 2,000 Irish Artists and Creative Arts Workers were granted Basic Income for the Arts. This historic new scheme explores support for artists and creative practice in a 3-year pilot that provides €325 per week as part of a research project. Read the...
A new book and report on UBI research in the UK
In August, 2022, a new book and a new report on UBI research in the UK were published. The book is The macroeconomics of basic income by Zsófi Kőműves, Chris Thoung, and Jakub Zagdanski. It was published by Cambridge Trust for New Thinking in Economics and can be...
A new book on the case for UBI in South Africa and beyond
Readers and BIEN members might be interested in a new book, IN THE BALANCE: The Case for a Universal Basic Income in South Africa and Beyond, which has just been published and is drawing good reviews.It's available from online retailers, New York University Press (for...
BIEN: The precarious beginnings of a worldwide network
BIEN has made a crucial contribution to the worldwide awareness of the idea of an unconditional basic income. For this to happen, perseverance was key, but also technology. Philippe Van Parijs reflects on the shaky birth of our network in this article published in The...
Basic Income as a vote winner
Start: Tuesday, September 06, 2022 • 6:00 PM • Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London (GMT+00:00) End: Tuesday, September 06, 2022 • 7:30 PM • Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London (GMT+00:00). This is an online event. Register and...