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
INTERNATIONAL: Open call for the creation of a worldwide basic income youth network
Members of the Basic Income Youth Network (BIYN) of Korea are interested in organizing a global network of young people who are interested in activism for Basic Income. They have put out a call for BI activists and organizations who are interested in this project....
NAMIBIA: Central Bank to Discuss the Basic Income Grant
The Bank of Namibia (Namibia’s central bank) will discuss the Basic Income Grant at it’s upcoming annual symposium. The focus of this year’s symposium is “Social safety nets in Namibia: Assessing current programmes and future options.” Karl Widerquist, of Georgetown...
Belgium: basic income at the heart of new political project?
In a recent interview (published by the daily De Morgen, 7 September 2013), one of Belgium's most prominent policy analysts, Professor Carl Devos (Ghent University), argues that Flanders needs a "new left alternative" under the form of a "big leftist party". Today,...
Guinevere Liberty Nell, "Basic Income and the Free Market: Austrian Economics and the Potential for Efficient Redistribution"
The book, Basic Income and the Free Market, outlines Austrian arguments for and against the BIG.
Karl Widerquist, Jose Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (editors), "Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research"
Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research presents a compilation of six decades of Basic Income literature. It includes the most influential …
Tobias Bucknell, “Basic Income Plan: a thought experiment”
This article asks readers to imagine creating a fund to accumulate compound interest to create a back income in the future. Tobias Bucknell, “Basic Income Plan: a thought experiment,” TobiasBucknell.com, August 5, 2013
Switzerland: Popular initiative on basic income to be submitted on 4 October 2013
The Swiss popular initiative for a basic income has officially collected 116,000 certified signatures. Those signatures were necessary to trigger a referendum on introducing Basic Income in Switzerland. The initiative will be officially submitted on October 4th, 2013,...
Chris Ladd, “How to End the Welfare State”
From the perspective of a committed member of the U.S. Republican Party,in this article Chris Ladd argues that a basic income has something for Republicans and Democrats. Chris Ladd asks, “How would Republicans react to a proposal that would eliminate the food stamp...
Allan Sheahen, “Basic Income Guarantee: Why now is the right time”
In this article, Allan Sheahen discusses the growing problems of poverty, hunger, and inequality in the United States, and argues that BIG can provide the solution. Allan Sheahen is a board member of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network and the author of the Basic...
Europe, 6th International Week of the Basic Income, September 16-22
The Sixth International Week of the Basic Income will take place 16 to 22 September 2013. For its 6th edition, the week of basic income will focus on raising awareness on the European Citizens Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income. Proponents of Unconditional...
Henrik Roseno, “Unconditional Basic Income and Joint Division of Labor is a natural evolution of democratic societies”
This opinion piece discusses how to get people to sign the EU petition for basic income. Henrik Roseno, “Unconditional Basic Income and Joint Division of Labor is a natural evolution of democratic societies,” Transformation.dk, September the 3rd, 2013
SEWA, “Unconditional cash transfers: SEWA pilots a unique experiment in Madhya Pradesh”
The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) recently completed a large pilot project on Basic Income in India. The association’s June Newsletter reports on the methodology and findings of the study. The project randomly assigned 8 out of 20 villages in the study to...