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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands has completed the first year of Enra, a quarterly payment for resident citizens, and approved a larger budget for its second year. Payments reached 40,714 people in the final quarter, but no evaluation has been published showing how the program affected recipients or the wider economy.
The Marshall Islands has completed Enra’s first year, paying quarterly support to resident citizens, and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year. The nationwide policy offers a live example for debates about income security as artificial intelligence changes work, but no published evaluation yet shows what the payments have changed.
Enra, officially called the Individual Support Distribution, sends an equal share of a set annual budget to eligible Marshallese citizens living in the country. Children qualify as well as adults; citizens living abroad do not. The program has no means test or work requirement. Payments can be made by check, bank deposit or the Lomalo phone wallet.
Four payments went out from November 2025 through August 2026. The last was $215.85 per person and reached 40,714 people, according to the administrator of the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration, cited by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine said the total represented more than 95% of the resident population. That is a measure of reported reach, not evidence of the program’s effects.
The payment amount changed as registrations grew and outside support arrived. The first payment was about $202; the second fell to about $160 as the eligible list expanded and the annual pot remained fixed. A $3.2 million World Bank grant helped raise the third and fourth payments. Parliament approved a second-year budget with $32.5 million for Enra and a separate $3.2 million top-up, compared with a $27.6 million line the previous year.
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 Security
Enra matters to discussions of AI-related job disruption because it tests a regular, broad-based payment as policy rather than as a small, temporary pilot. Its first year shows that a government can build a delivery system reaching a large share of residents, including people in a geographically dispersed country where access to banks is limited.
But reach is not the same as impact. The available figures do not establish whether Enra reduced poverty, improved household stability, changed employment decisions or affected prices. Nor do they show how recipients used the money. Without an evaluation, the Marshall Islands’ experience is evidence about program administration and coverage, not a verdict on whether basic income would help workers displaced or affected by AI in larger, richer economies.
The funding model also limits direct comparisons. Enra is paid from a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, rather than from a new broad-based tax. A policy financed through a dedicated fund may face different fiscal choices from one funded through ordinary government revenue.
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How the Marshall Islands Funds Enra
The first Enra payment was issued on November 26, 2025. The government’s Ministry of Finance describes the program as the world’s first country-wide, long-term universal basic income program. That is the ministry’s characterization; the source account notes that Alaska’s annual dividend differs from a basic-income floor and that many other programs have been limited pilots.
Enra is funded through a trust fund created under the U.S.–Marshall Islands compact. The fund was valued at about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026, according to the source account. The International Monetary Fund estimated Enra would cost 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and urged the government to replace it with a targeted program at the first feasible opportunity. That is the IMF’s policy recommendation, not a change already made by the government.
The program’s payment technology has also drawn attention. Lomalo supports transfers using a digital token called USDM1. The finance ministry says the token is a sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated U.S. Treasuries and rejects describing it as a cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency or stablecoin. The source account says the number of Enra recipients using the wallet has not been made public.
What the First-Year Data Cannot Tell Us
The main gap is the absence of a published evaluation. The reported payment totals establish that Enra operated and reached tens of thousands of people, but they do not measure changes in household income, food security, employment, health or local prices. The account also provides no comparison group or other method for separating the program’s effects from broader economic conditions.
Some operational details remain unavailable. The number of recipients using Lomalo has not been published, and the figures provided do not spell out how many eligible residents missed or delayed a payment. The reported total for the final quarter is not, by itself, proof that every resident citizen received support. It is also unclear from the available material how the government will respond to the IMF’s recommendation or sustain the program if trust-fund resources or investment returns change.
Second-Year Funding and Evaluation
The next confirmed step is the second year of Enra, backed by the approved $32.5 million budget and the additional $3.2 million top-up. Further quarterly payments will provide more information about delivery and changing payment amounts, but payment records alone will not answer questions about outcomes.
Readers and policymakers will be looking for a published assessment of what recipients experienced, how the program affected household finances and whether the funding model can continue. The source material does not identify an evaluation release date or a government decision to adopt the IMF’s proposal. Until those details emerge, Enra offers a substantial real-world case in payment coverage and administration, while its effects—and its relevance to AI-driven labor-market change elsewhere—remain unproven.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution: quarterly payments from a fixed budget to eligible Marshallese citizens living in the country, including children. It has no means test or work requirement.
How many people received the final first-year payment?
The August 2026 payment of $215.85 per person went to 40,714 people, according to the Social Security Administration’s administrator as cited by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine said that was more than 95% of the resident population.
Does the first year prove basic income works?
No. The reported figures show that Enra delivered payments at broad scale, but no published evaluation in the source material measures its effects on poverty, employment, household finances or other outcomes.
How is Enra funded?
The program draws on a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The second-year budget includes $32.5 million for Enra, plus a separate $3.2 million top-up.
What can other countries learn about AI and basic income from Enra?
So far, Enra offers evidence about administering a broad payment program in a small island country, not proof that basic income can offset AI-related job losses. Its funding source, population and economic circumstances differ from those of larger economies, and its outcomes have not yet been evaluated.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
