🔍 Read the full analysis: The Marshall Islands Pays Every Citizen A Basic Income. What About AI? on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands completed the first year of Enra, a quarterly payment for resident citizens, and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year. The money comes from a trust fund established under the country’s agreement with the United States, while the IMF has urged a move to targeted assistance. No published evaluation yet shows what Enra has changed or what it can teach countries preparing for AI-related job disruption.
The Marshall Islands has completed Enra’s first year, paying quarterly support to more than 40,000 resident citizens, and approved $32.5 million for year two. The program offers a real-world case for debates about income support as AI reshapes work, but its effects have not been evaluated and its funding comes from a country-specific trust fund, not a general tax system.
Enra, formally called the Individual Support Distribution, provides equal quarterly payments to Marshallese citizens living in the country, including children. It has no means test or work requirement. Citizens living abroad are not eligible. The payment amount varies because the program distributes a fixed pot among eligible residents, rather than guaranteeing a set amount to each person.
The first payment went out on November 26, 2025. Four payments were made between November 2025 and August 2026. The final payment was $215.85 per person to 40,714 people, according to the Social Security Administration’s administrator, as reported by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine has said the recipient count represents more than 95% of the resident population.
Enrollment growth affected payment sizes. The first distribution was about $202 per person; the March 2026 payment fell to roughly $160 as the eligible list grew. A $3.2 million World Bank grant helped raise the third and fourth payments. For the second year, a U.S.–Marshall Islands trust fund committee approved $32.5 million on September 2, and parliament passed a budget on September 18 that included the same amount for Enra, plus a $3.2 million top-up. The prior year’s budget line was $27.6 million.
Infographic 01 · Enra, the first year
Four payments, one fixed pot
How the Marshall Islands paid a basic income to almost every resident citizen between November 2025 and August 2026.
- Nov 2025First payment: $201.92 to more than 33,000 people. MISSA had enrolled 33,119 by 30 Sep 2025.Launch ceremony in Majuro, 26 Nov
- End Mar 2026About $160. Delayed a month to vet new registrations and residence. More than 37,000 registered, same fixed budget.Citizens away more than 3 months are removed from the list, with exceptions
- End May 2026About $200 again, thanks to a $3.2 million World Bank grant ($1.6 million per quarter). More than 41,000 on the eligible list.Pushed by the president over fuel and food prices
- Aug 2026$215.85 to 40,714 people. Fewer paper checks than in earlier rounds.MISSA administrator to the Marshall Islands Journal
Payment per person, year one
US dollars per quarter · March and May rounded as reported
Why the amount moves
- Enra is a fixed annual budget shared equally among everyone eligible that quarter.
- More registrations mean a smaller share unless the budget grows.
- Roughly $780 per person in year one, about 12% of GDP per person (IMF: $6,417, FY2023). My arithmetic.
Sources: Marshall Islands Journal (27 Nov 2025, 26 Feb, 22 May, 6 Aug, 27 Aug 2026) · IMF, 10 Sep 2025. March and May amounts as reported (“about”).
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What Enra Can Show About Income Support
Enra has moved the basic-income debate beyond small trials by operating across an entire country. Its first year confirms that a government can distribute regular payments to a large share of its resident citizen population, including children, through checks, bank deposits and a phone wallet. That is evidence about reach and delivery, not proof that the program reduces poverty, improves health or changes employment.
The distinction matters for countries asking how to respond if AI reduces demand for some kinds of work. Enra is not a test of an AI-funded income policy: the source material provides no evidence that AI has affected Marshallese employment or that Enra was designed around automation. The experience may inform questions about universal payments, but its financing and scale are specific to the Marshall Islands. The program draws on a trust fund and receives external support, conditions that may not transfer to larger economies.
The IMF estimated Enra’s cost at 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and recommended replacing it with targeted support at the first feasible opportunity. That assessment highlights a policy trade-off: universal payments are broad and simple in principle, while targeted programs direct funds toward people identified as most in need. The available reporting does not settle which approach produces better outcomes in the Marshall Islands.
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How the Marshall Islands Funds Enra
The program is financed through a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The fund was valued at about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026, according to the source material. Enra is therefore not described as a recurring payment financed through ordinary tax revenue. Its future depends in part on the fund’s resources, investment performance and the government’s budget decisions.
Enra’s payment channels include paper checks, bank transfers and Lomalo, a phone wallet. The digital wallet attracted attention because it distributes USDM1, a token issued on a public blockchain. The finance ministry says USDM1 is a U.S.-dollar sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated U.S. Treasury securities; it rejects descriptions of the token as a cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency or stablecoin. The number of recipients who use Lomalo has not been published.
Digital delivery addresses a practical access problem: bank branches are concentrated on the two most populated atolls, Majuro and Ebeye, while checks sent to outer islands can take weeks. The distribution system also requires eligibility checks. The government reviewed residency as registrations rose, with some exceptions for citizens abroad for diplomacy, medical treatment or study. Those mechanics help explain both the changing payment amounts and the delay before the second distribution.
What Enra’s First Year Cannot Yet Prove
No published evaluation of Enra’s effects is identified in the source material. It is not yet clear how payments affected household poverty, consumption, schooling, health, work decisions or local prices. The recipient totals show broad reach, but they do not establish what changed for participants or what would have happened without the program.
The precise number of residents eligible for each round, the number who ultimately collected or used each payment channel, and the long-term sustainability of the annual budget remain open questions. The final payment count was reported as 40,714, while the president described coverage as more than 95% of the resident population; the source does not provide the underlying population calculation.
Claims that Enra is the world’s first long-term, country-wide basic income program also remain attributed to the finance ministry. The source says it is difficult to identify a direct counter-example, but the claim should not be treated as an independently verified fact. Enra’s connection to debates about AI is likewise an analogy, not a demonstrated result of this program.
Monitoring Enra’s Second-Year Rollout
The next immediate development is implementation of the second-year budget of $32.5 million, alongside the additional $3.2 million top-up included in parliament’s September budget. Future quarterly payments will show how the amount per person changes with enrollment, available funds and any further outside support.
Readers will need a published evaluation to judge whether Enra has improved household well-being and how its costs compare with more targeted assistance. The source material does not give a date for such an assessment, nor does it identify a planned study or a government decision to change the program. Until that evidence is available, the confirmed record is narrower: Enra reached tens of thousands of residents, its payment amounts varied, and lawmakers authorized continued funding for a second year.
Key Questions
Who receives Enra payments?
Marshallese citizens who live in the Marshall Islands are eligible, including children. Citizens living abroad do not qualify, subject to reported exceptions for some people away for diplomatic service, medical treatment or study.
How much did people receive in Enra’s first year?
The payment changed across quarterly rounds because a fixed program budget was divided among eligible residents. The last payment, in August 2026, was $215.85 per person; earlier payments included one of about $160 after enrollment increased.
Where does the money for Enra come from?
Enra is funded through a trust fund created under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, with a $3.2 million World Bank grant also helping raise payments during the first year.
Has Enra been shown to reduce poverty or change employment?
No published evaluation is identified in the source material. The first-year figures describe payments and coverage, not measured effects on poverty, jobs or other household outcomes.
It offers a case of nationwide recurring payments, but the available evidence does not link Enra to AI-driven job changes. Its trust-fund financing and small-country setting also differ from the conditions facing larger economies.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
