Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) was founded in 1986 as an international organisation that fosters informed discussion about a Basic Income.
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🧠 Did you know?
40 years of BIEN, 1 big question: what would it actually take to give everyone a basic income?
Starting next week, we're breaking down the questions we get asked most: what it is, who it's for, how it's funded, and what it means for social policy.
Stay tuned!
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What happens when Bitcoin and Basic Income meet? Two radical ideas. Bitcoin and Basic Income come from different traditions, but share important ideas about individual freedom, economic autonomy and a more open financial system. Free entry to the event. zurl.co/lTLbx
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Haenam-gun is preparing to join South Korea’s rural basic income pilot in 2027. The county is planning how basic income can do more than support household incomes by keeping money circulating in local economies and boosting small businesses. zurl.co/sQU9Y
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Spouses Jeff Atwood and Betsy Burton have pledged $50 million, half their wealth, over five years, with most going to guaranteed-income programmes in rural America providing unconditional cash to people and testing what direct income support can achieve.zurl.co/rjX5R
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What if communities could be directly rewarded for stewarding nature? Last month, Equal Right launched the Climate Commons Fund in Il Ngwesi, Kenya, a financial model combining Unconditional Cash Transfers with conservation. Here is a blog by the team:zurl.co/HIkQF
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What happens 18 months after guaranteed income payments end? The Denver Basic Income Project has released its 18-month report, examining how more than $10.8 million in cash assistance affected participants and what happened after payments stopped. zurl.co/m47eB
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The time for basic income is Now! During Basic Income Week, this letter-to-the-editor article reflects on lessons from the BIEN Congress 2026, decades of pilot projects and the lived experience of people affected by income insecurity. zurl.co/oRLo4
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Who should benefit when AI makes the economy more productive? Scott Santens argues for a Pigovian automation tax that could encourage a 4-day workweek at full pay, lower prices, or a “Displacement Dividend” for workers affected by automation. zurl.co/ekvM5
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Income inequality is more than a gap between rich and poor; it controls access to opportunity, security and economic power. Understanding how income is distributed, why inequality persist, and how it affects society is the basis for Universal Basic Income: zurl.co/nvBlX
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The road to Universal Basic Income is becoming harder to ignore. The question is no longer whether basic income deserves discussion, but what a workable UBI could look like and how we could build it. zurl.co/Xzu4A
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South Korea is taking rural basic income a step further, connecting cash with local jobs, services and production. In 17 pilot regions, the goverment plans to support cooperatives, social enterprises and village enterprises to strengthen the local economy zurl.co/Plexk
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🎉 Today, at UTC 17:00, someone could win up to 5 years of Basic Income! UBI4ALL will select one lucky winner live, who will receive €9,600 in unconditional Basic Income. No conditions. No strings attached. Just basic income. Watch the raffle live at: zurl.co/A6Atn
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Boseong’s rural basic income is already boosting local economies. Within just 12 days of the first payment, the money flowed to supermarkets, restaurants, fuel providers, pharmacies and other businesses, strengthening household security and local economies.zurl.co/7yPkj
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Can guaranteed income help people stay out of prison? A Florida initiative has provided $800 a month for a year to 172 recently released people. The cash is unconditional, giving recipients room to pay bills, pursue education and rebuild their lives. zurl.co/XH7M2
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What happens when families receive guaranteed income with no strings attached? The University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions is evaluating Ann Arbor’s Guaranteed Income Pilot, studying its effects on financial stability, employment, health and well-being. zurl.co/O2bB6
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The Basic Income for Artists campaign pilot in Ireland found that participants spent 11 more hours a week on creative practice, giving artists more freedom to create, improving well-being, and making the arts more accessible to working-class people. zurl.co/O8TzG
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📣 The September UBI Pilots Network newsletter is out! This issue covers new data on guaranteed basic income pilots, research on whether financial gains persist after payments end, and more. Read and subscribe to get more updates on UBI pilots every month: zurl.co/FBY5X
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The Scottish Government is taking another step toward basic income for artists. First Minister John Swinney has confirmed plans to pilot the culture scheme by 2031, alongside a commitment to increase funding by £100 million a year by 2028/29. zurl.co/E0Fof
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What happens when pandemic cash assistance ends? Guaranteed income advocates are now pushing to turn cash-assistance pilots into permanent public policy, showing how Governments can use existing budgets to provide direct cash during major life transitions. zurl.co/q9epO
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Hwacheon, South Korea: County chief Kim Se-hoon is promoting a model that combines basic income payments with renewable-energy revenue sharing and local spending. Strengthening the local economy by keeping more money circulating within the community. zurl.co/QLnF4
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South Korea has appointed a prominent Universal Basic Income advocate to a senior government role. Yong Hye-in, a two-term lawmaker and floor leader of the Basic Income Party, has been nominated as Minister of Gender Equality and Family. zurl.co/3EPGX
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What does $500 a month mean to a family? Mandi Remington, a Johnson County Supervisor and former single mother struggling to make ends meet, argues that guaranteed income gives families something often missing: breathing room. zurl.co/ww3Ie
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A new opinion piece argues for a Universal Basic Income in Canada. The proposal calls for a standalone, CPP-style UBI fund that would provide a $2,600 monthly payment to every resident, while simplifying the current patchwork of income support programmes.zurl.co/dfuxF
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South Africa is considering a new social grant for millions of people. The proposed Basic Income Grant would build on the existing Social Relief of Distress Grant and could provide longer-term income support to unemployed and low-income adults. zurl.co/5R1vw
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Dolly Parton understood something at the heart of basic income: trust. After the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfires, her My People Fund gave affected families $1,000 a month for six months, with no conditions on how they spent it. Scott Santens article pays tribute zurl.co/Vh6YJ
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A new IQRA article looks at how societies can build systems that ensure people have basic economic security and dignity. See how Zakat is a pillar of social protection and connect it to contemporary debates around Canada's proposed Basic Income Bill S-206.zurl.co/27dFy
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New Zealand’s Opportunity Party is putting universal basic income and wealth taxation at the centre of its economic platform. The party proposes a NZ$19,400 annual universal income for most residents, funded through a 1.75% annual land tax. Read more: zurl.co/m88ge
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As the BIEN World Congress takes place in Toronto, this CBC article looks at why advocates, researchers and former participants are gathering to discuss what basic income could mean for Canada and how lessons from past pilots can inform the future. zurl.co/3ZMPz
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BIEN Congress 2026 is here! This year’s theme, “Basic Income and the Polycrisis,” explores how unconditional income can help societies respond to interconnected challenges from inequality and climate change to AI and the future of work. Full programme here:zurl.co/QZBtG
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What if cities could turn natural resource wealth into a permanent source of income for residents? In Maricá, Brazil, oil revenues helped create a sovereign wealth fund that supports the city’s social programmes, including a basic income programme. zurl.co/m4FOG
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Stockton, California, gave 125 residents $500 a month for a two-year guaranteed-income pilot. The results challenged assumptions: recipients were more likely to be employed full-time, while also reporting greater financial stability and improved well-being zurl.co/WQswD
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Toronto is about to become the global centre of the basic income movement! This year’s theme, “Basic Income and the Polycrisis”, brings together Global researchers, advocates, policymakers and community organisers for the 25th BIEN World Congress.zurl.co/Rfncr
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New Zealand’s Opportunity Party is putting Universal Basic Income at the centre of its economic platform. Its proposed “citizen’s income” would provide NZ$19,400 a year to every citizen and resident aged 18+ unconditionally and replace several benefits.zurl.co/0Dzfb
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Libertarian congressional candidate in Iowa is proposing a radical overhaul of the U.S. tax and welfare system. Rick Stewart wants to eliminate income taxes and federal welfare programmes, arguing for a different approach to government and economic policy. zurl.co/PECh3
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From the 1970s Mincome experiment to Ontario's Basic Income Pilot, Canada has already tested what income security can mean in people's lives. Canada's basic income story takes centre stage as the BIEN Congress 2026 comes to Toronto from Aug 19–22 zurl.co/aEBpX
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A Rabble.ca article looks at how Universal Basic Income could respond to the “polycrisis” from AI and insecure work to inflation, inequality and climate disruption. UBI is more than an income floor. It is social infrastructure for society. zurl.co/xv6bQ
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A new BIEN retrospective looks at a decade of pilots, research and real-world programmes from Finland and Kenya to Maricá and the Marshall Islands. The question is shifting from “Can basic income work?” to “How should we design it well?”zurl.co/S7xJO
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The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in South Korea has announced plans to develop a basic income model for artists by the end of 2026. The proposal will examine eligibility, payment levels, and delivery mechanisms for creative professionals. zurl.co/JpYSq
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South Korea is taking a significant step toward strengthening support for creative workers by exploring Basic Income for artists. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced plans to develop a basic income model for artists by the end of 2026 zurl.co/486H3
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The August BIENs Piloters Newsletter is out! Ahead of the BIEN conference, we have a lot packed into this month's edition, featuring pilots in Uganda, research news, a lottery and a docuseries, all on the basic income movement. Read and subscribe for more. zurl.co/CE30r
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Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu has reignited the debate over AI, Basic Income and the future of work, warning artificial intelligence is already changing hiring patterns, with money once allocated to hiring new employees increasingly being redirected to AI. zurl.co/mErwx
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Created after federal job cuts, the Baltimore Community Guaranteed Income Club is an innovative solution that allows members to voluntarily contribute a share of their income each month, which is then redistributed to members facing financial hardship. zurl.co/C095k
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Should the wealth created by AI be shared with everyone? This article examines the concept of an "AI dividend," using AI revenues through mechanisms such as sovereign wealth funds, public ownership, AI-specific taxes, or data licensing to provide BI.zurl.co/WBgAo
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A new article from BIEN looks back at the decade when UBI moved from theory to real-world pilots. Focusing on the period 2006–2016, the article traces how pilots in Namibia, India, Brazil, Switzerland, and South Korea transformed the policy. zurl.co/qE0cw
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What would Basic Income change for you in reality? UBI4ALL’s 10th Basic Income Raffle will be during the BIEN Congress in Toronto. One person will receive a total of €9,600 in Basic Income. Participation is completely free and open worldwide for 16+👉 zurl.co/iIvJJ
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A new article in the Morning Star states that rather than viewing UBI as a replacement for public services or workers' rights, it should be seen as part of a broader strategy to ensure that the productivity gains from tech progress are shared across societyhttps://zurl.co/uk8R4
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A new proposal from the Busan Research Institute suggests that a Youth Basic Income could help reverse the city's growing population decline and retain young people. The institute recommends a 24-month pilot providing 300,000 won per month to young adults.zurl.co/TgGoZ
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A new report from The Seoul Economic Daily spotlights Boeun County, where a monthly 160,000-won basic income, paid in local currency, has attracted an average of around 20 new residents a day since the county joined the government's pilot programme. zurl.co/JOsVg
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A new review of Nutrition North Canada is calling for a bold rethink of food security in Canada's North, including consideration of a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income. The review argues that high food prices cannot be solved through food subsidies alone. zurl.co/CeLga
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An article in the Rabble looks into how Universal Basic Income should be viewed as a response to today's interconnected "polycrisis'', overlapping challenges of climate change, inequality, housing unaffordability, economic insecurity, and rapid tech change zurl.co/7yyM3
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