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 Norway’s Emergency Basic Income proposal
BIEN Norway has proposed an Emergency Basic Income. Click here to read the proposal.
Challenges facing the implementation of an emergency Basic Income in the United Kingdom
As in countries all over the world, a significant effect of the social distancing and other measures that the UK Government has put in place to slow the coronavirus’s spread is that individuals’ incomes are experiencing significant damage. This is particularly true of...
What did Pope Francis mean on Easter Day 2020?
On Easter Day, the 12th April 2020, Pope Francis sent a message to 'our brothers and sisters in social movements and organizations', during which he said this: … I know that you have been excluded from the benefits of globalization. You do not enjoy the...
Taiwan debating coronavirus cash payments
A debate has broken out in Taiwan over sending cash to combat the economic downturn related to the global coronavirus pandemic.
French Movement for a Basic Income: Basic income – the emergency for more social justice
In the current context of a global pandemic, the universal basic income (UBI) policy has been gaining ground all over the world. Given this sudden raise of awareness about UBI, it was important for the French Movement for a Basic Income (MFRB), as well as 40 other...
Emergency Basic Income during the Coronavirus crisis
There is a translation of this article into French. A basic income is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement (BIEN's definition of Basic Income) The coronavirus pandemic is causing huge...
UBI Advocates conversations co-ordinated by BIEN’s Turkish affiliate
BIEN's Turkish affiliated organisation, 'Citizen's Basic Income Research Development Culture and Dissemination Society', is organising a series of 'UBI Advocates' conversations. Three smaller groups have discussed the relationship between the coronavirus crisis and...
Guy Standing and Philippe Van Parijs interviewed for an article in El Pais
The Spanish newspaper El Pais has published an article, 'La renta básica deja de ser una utopía' ('Basic income is no longer a utopia'): La pandemia lleva a diversos países a ensayar planes de transferencias directas no universales para compensar la reducción en los...
Spain may issue ‘permanent’ basic income to fight COVID-19
Reports are emerging that Spain is hoping to deploy a “permanent” basic income type program in the near future. Spain aims to respond to the economic crisis from the global coronavirus pandemic.
Brazil: the National Senate approves Emergency Basic Income
Homeless people in San Francisco, during the corona virus crisis days. Picture credit to: Aljazeera On February 26th, 2020, the first case of Covid – 19 was registered in Brazil. Like in so many other countries, the coronavirus epidemic spread quickly in Brazil. On...
Punk Band Records a Song with Indepentarian Argument for Basic Income
Indepentarianism exists. The Danish punk band, Husligt Arbejde [House Work] has recorded an indepentarian song, “Borgerløn - the power to say no,” which translates into “Basic Income – the power to say no.” According to Google translate, the band describes its music...
United States: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls for basic income as a response to the corona virus crisis
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Picture credit to: Fox 32 As the corona virus crisis unfolds, the political atmosphere heats up in the United States. At the Capitol, a 2 trillion dollar bill is in the making, specifically to deal with the economic downturn caused by the...