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 next annual BIEN Congress will occur August 19th-22th at the Toronto Metropolitan University. The BIEN Congress will not be occurring in USA this year.
Theme: Basic Income and the Polycrisis: The Key to Unlocking the Puzzle 🔑
See pictures from the 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói here.
Recent News, Opinion, and Research
BIEN Invites Contributors to Share Memories for 40th Anniversary Oral History Project
As the Basic Income Earth Network prepares to mark its 40th anniversary, BIEN is inviting longtime members, contributors, affiliates, activists, scholars, and supporters to take part in its 40th Anniversary Oral History Project. The project will collect personal...
The idea that could fix the economy overnight | Guy Standing video on UBI
Guy Standing is professor of Development Studies at SOAS and co-founder of the Basic Income Earth Network. He is best known as a long-standing and prominent advocate of Universal Basic Income, but he is also responsible for redefining and revitalising the term...
Sanders Sovereign Wealth Fund Plan Would Give US Public ‘Direct Ownership Stake’ in AI Giants
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday announced he will soon introduce legislation that would give the American public “a direct ownership stake” in the largest artificial intelligence companies in the US by establishing a sovereign wealth fund, which would ensure everyone...
Taiwan is moving toward a child basic income. It should not stop half way.
President Lai’s NT$5,000 monthly child allowance proposal is not a full UBI. But it may be the clearest basic-income stepping stone Taiwan has yet put into mainstream politics.
BIEN Collaboration with the UN Special Rapporteur
Since 2025, BIEN has had the pleasure of collaborating with the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter. Together with our partner, Equal Right, we have submitted inputs on how Basic Income can contribute to the Special...
BIEN Treasurer Lindsay Stirton has completed the Rio Marathon
Following several months of hard training (and with some concern an Achilles tendon injury might be getting in the way), our Treasurer Lindsay Stirton last Sunday completed the Rio Marathon. Congratulations for a huge achievement!! Lindsay ran his 42K in support of...
AI is speeding up the deadline for basic income
UBI was already justified. AI is now creating its own independent reason to act faster. Basic income was always justified because it is a foundation for human flourishing. Whether the economy is booming or falling does not change that principle. The rise of AI is...
How Do We Pay for Universal Basic Income?
A 1.5% annual stock dilution tax on corporations with revenue over $100M would raise over $1.4 trillion a year — enough to send every American about $365 a month, automatically. Corporations issue new stock all the time — to raise cash, to pay executives, to swallow...
‘Seen’, ‘Respected’ and ‘Empowered’: Exploring the Dignity Dividend of a Universal Basic Income
Abstract Individuals experiencing poverty face dual indignity: material deprivation and engagement with stigmatizing social policy. Universal Basic Income (UBI) is often pitched as a dignifying alternative to both challenges. This article presents a 2-year...
Philosophy Compass articles on Basic Income Published
New open access publications on basic income and sustainable welfare Two new articles in Philosophy Compass examine the role of basic income (BI) in the green transformation of advanced welfare states: “Basic Income—A Transformative Policy for Sustainable...
Basic Income for the Arts in Ireland – From Pilot to Permanent
Please join us for the eighth and final event in our special series of discussions dedicated to reflecting on what we can learn from the Irish Basic Income for the Arts Pilot and its change to Permanent. The Government of Ireland ran a Basic Income pilot that began in...
AI leaders see mass job loss coming. They want government’s help solving it.
Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash Elon Musk has a plan for a future where jobs are wiped out by artificial intelligence: a benevolent government will provide. “Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with...