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
United States: American citizens support for UBI rises four times, compared to a decade ago
Picture credit to: The Conversation. Approval of a universal basic income (UBI) has risen sharply in the United States. Karl Widerquist cites a 10-year-old poll showing that only 12% of Americans approved an UBI at that time. Now that number is 48%, according...
India: Muhammad Yunus says it’s time to introduce basic income
Muhammad Yunus. Picture credit to: Yunus negócios sociais (Brazil) Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Peace Nobel Prize laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank, is very concerned about artificial intelligence (AI). His fear revolves around the prospects of generalized...
SCOTLAND: An update on UBI experiments
Scottish Parliament building. As reported before on Basic Income News, the Scottish Government has committed to help local government advance their Universal Basic Income (UBI) experiments in four local municipalities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife and North...
Make Way For Other Toys (from 1996)
This piece was originally published in Cake: The Nonmusic Music Magazine in 1996. I reproduce it here because the original source is not available online. The Magzine's format was to ask a musician to write on a theme other than music. The theme of this issue, which...
Wayne Lewchulk: “We could use [basic income] as an opportunity to discover the potential of humans”
Wayne Lewchulk. Picture credit to: The Halmilton Spectator “This isn’t your grandparents’ labour market”. Wayne Lewchulk, a professor at the McMaster University and specialist in labour markets, precarious employment and health, says it crystal clear on an interview...
Current UBI Experiments: An update for July 2018
[This article is a draft chapter of my book, A Critical Discussion of UBI Experiments, adapted as a blog post] Like the experiments the 1960s and ’70s, the current round of experiments appears at a time when concern about poverty and inequality is rising and people...
Finland: Olli Kangas reveals the resistance to UBI
Olli Kangas. Picture credit: What.Happens.Now? Olli Kangas, one of the masterminds behind Finland’s Universal basic income (UBI) research experiment, has spoken in detail about the process of implementing the UBI experiment and the challenges that have come...
Why Welfare Doesn’t Work: And What We Should Do Instead
Democrats and Republicans don’t see eye to eye very often, but they can safely agree on one point: welfare doesn’t work. We must redesign this entire system. In the most prosperous nation in the world, it is ludicrous that children are growing up in the kind of deprivation we normally associate with developing countries.
Next System Podcast on Carbon Tax
The Next System Podcast, which states that it “seeks to understand contemporary challenges, interrogate emerging possibilities, and begin imagining the next system”, recently interviewed Jeremiah Lowery and Camila Thorndyke of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network...
The Bass Player (from 1997)
This piece was originally published in Cake: The Nonmusic Music Magazine in February 1997. I reproduce it here because the original source is not available online. "Ever since I was a young boy" I dreamed of doing the simple stuff while the guitar player shows off....
International: 11th Basic Income Week
This year’s 11th Basic Income Week is happening in September, from the 17th to the 23rd, with the motto: “Basic Income: An income you can count on!” All planned events related to basic income in that week (but not limited to) are scheduled at a dedicated calendar, and...
Next System Podcast on Carbon Tax
The Next System Podcast, which states that it “seeks to understand contemporary challenges, interrogate emerging possibilities, and begin imagining the next system”, recently interviewed Jeremiah Lowery and Camila Thorndyke of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network...