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
SWITZERLAND: Zurich city parliament decides to examine a Basic Income pilot project for two city districts
In a 2016 vote regarding a Basic Income initiative in Switzerland (rejected by 76% of the people), two districts in Zurich voted in favor of the initiative. In November of 2017, the Zurich parliament accepted a parliamentary postulate that proposes the launch of a...
One-minute video answering the question, “Would it be possible to fund UBI in America?”
Of course, it is possible to fund UBI in America. Based on my calculations from a forthcoming article in Basic Income Studies, this one-minute video argues that a UBI large enough to eliminate poverty in the United States will cost 2.95% of the GDP per year--even if...
A very different take on the question, “Could UBI be a solution if automation eliminates jobs in the US?”
In this one-minute video, I argue that people look at automation and UBI in the wrong way. We must not wait until the predicted day when automation reduces the total number of jobs available. Automation creates two important reasons to introduce UBI right now even if...
Alaskan Dividend influence: Alberta, New Mexico, and beyond (from 2005)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in October 2005. Dividend checks from the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) go out this month paying $845.76 (US), to every Alaska resident. (The APF is the only existing Basic Income in the world. It pays...
UK: A debate about the feasibility of Citizen’s Basic Income
Picture credit to: European Parliament On the 23rd November, Social Europe published an article by Bo Rothstein entitled ‘UBI: A bad idea for the welfare state‘: First, such a reform would be unsustainably expensive and would thereby jeopardize the state’s...
Jay Hammond, Father of the Alaskan Basic Income, Dies at 83 (from 2005)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in August 2005. Jay Hammond, the governor of Alaska from 1975 to 1982, who led the fight to create the Alaska Permanent Fund, was found dead at his Homestead about 185 miles southwest of Anchorage, on...
European survey reveals significant public support for Basic Income
50.8% in UK support implementation of BI, 49.2% oppose
International Labour Office report discusses Basic Income
…as a possible way of improving income security in face of the uncertain availability of jobs.
The Basic Income Guarantee Experiments of the 1970s: a quick summary of results
So many countries are currently conducting or seriously talking about starting Universal Basic Income (UBI) experiments that it’s becoming hard to keep track. These are not the first experiments in UBI or other forms of Basic Income Guarantee (BIG). Namibia and India...
SCOTLAND: Scottish Government provides £250k to support feasibility work on BI pilots
Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities of the Scottish government announced that a fund of £250,000 is available for feasibility studies of the Basic Income pilots proposed in Scotland. In addition to the fund, the...
VATICAN: Basic income can’t be ignored, says Vatican expert
Charles Clark. Credit to: Michael Swan Writing for The Catholic Register, Michael Swan reports on a talk by Charles Clark, Vatican’s top economic advisor, at an interfaith conference on universal basic income (UBI), held in St. Michael’s College in Toronto on...
Portugal: Web Summit – Guy Standing’s Basic Income Panel
At the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, from November 5th to 8th, Guy Standing took part in this big event. Over 60,000 participants from 170 countries attended the event; the event hosted about 1,200 speakers. Some speakers included influential individuals like Elon...