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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands completed four quarterly payments under Enra, its nationwide basic-income program, and approved $32.5 million for its second year, plus a $3.2 million top-up. The first year shows that payments reached more than 40,000 eligible residents, but no published evaluation yet establishes their effects or what they imply for countries preparing for AI-related job disruption.
The Marshall Islands has completed Enra’s first year, paying a quarterly basic-income distribution to eligible citizens living in the country, and has approved $32.5 million for year two, with a further $3.2 million top-up in the budget. The program provides a real-world example of nationwide income support, but its first year does not yet show whether basic income can cushion job losses associated with artificial intelligence: no evaluation of Enra’s effects has been published.
Enra, officially the Individual Support Distribution, made four payments between November 2025 and August 2026. The final payment was $215.85 per person to 40,714 people, according to the Marshall Islands Journal, citing the payment agency. President Hilda Heine said that represented more than 95% of the resident population. The program covers citizens living in the Marshall Islands, including children; citizens living abroad are not eligible.
The amount is not a guaranteed fixed payment. Enra divides a fixed annual pot equally among eligible people, so the payment fell to about $160 as registrations rose, before a $3.2 million World Bank grant helped raise later distributions. The source estimates that a resident received roughly $780 over the first year, but that total varies with payment amounts and eligibility.
Funding for the second year was approved by the US–Marshall Islands trust fund committee on September 2, and parliament passed a budget on September 18 setting aside $32.5 million for Enra and a separate $3.2 million top-up. The previous year’s budget line was $27.6 million. The program is funded from a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, rather than from a new tax, according to the source. The fund was valued at about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026.
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 offers evidence about the practical reach of a nationwide, recurring payment in a country with dispersed communities and limited access to banking. Its first year shows that the government could distribute funds to tens of thousands of residents through checks, bank deposits and a phone wallet. It does not establish how recipients changed their spending, employment, health or education, because no impact evaluation has been published.
That distinction matters to countries weighing responses to possible AI-driven job disruption. Enra is not an experiment in what happens when AI replaces work: the supplied reporting identifies no AI-related eligibility rule, employment condition or outcome measurement. It therefore cannot tell policymakers whether basic income would compensate workers for lost jobs, change labor-force participation, or prove more effective than targeted support. It can inform discussion of delivery and financing, but claims about its effects on AI-era employment would go beyond the available evidence.
The budget also shows that a universal payment has a fiscal cost. The IMF 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 position, not a finding that the payments failed. Whether the trust-fund financing can sustain the program over time remains central to judging whether other governments could adapt any part of the model.
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How the First Year Unfolded
The first Enra payment went out on November 26, 2025, initially at about $200 per person. The program was presented by the Ministry of Finance as the world’s first country-wide, long-term universal basic-income program. That description is the government’s claim; the source says comparable payments elsewhere have generally been annual dividends or limited-duration trials, rather than a permanent nationwide program.
The initial recipient list grew from 33,119 people registered by September 30, 2025, to more than 37,000 by the second payment period. The government delayed the next distribution while it checked new registrations and residency. According to the finance minister, immigration records are reviewed, and citizens absent for more than three months are removed from the list, with exceptions including diplomats, students and people sent abroad for medical treatment. With more eligible recipients sharing a fixed budget, the payment fell to about $160.
Enra can be paid by paper check, bank deposit or Lomalo phone wallet. The wallet uses a digital token called USDM1, which attracted international attention. The Ministry of Finance describes USDM1 as a US-dollar sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated US Treasuries and says it is not a cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency or stablecoin. The source does not provide independent verification of that characterization. The wallet’s stated practical purpose is to help residents in outer islands where bank branches are not readily accessible; how many recipients use it has not been published.
Effects and Long-Term Costs Remain Unknown
The available reporting confirms that payments were made and gives recipient counts and budget figures, but does not include a published evaluation of what changed for households. It is not yet clear how Enra affected poverty, prices, work decisions or access to essential services, or whether benefits differed between residents who used checks, bank deposits and the phone wallet.
Funding beyond the approved second year is also uncertain. The source identifies a trust-fund balance and current allocations, but does not provide a long-term forecast of returns, future payment levels or the program’s sustainability under different economic conditions. Nor does the material establish how any of these results would transfer to larger, wealthier economies facing AI-related changes in employment. The first-year record supports conclusions about reach and administration more than about social or labor-market impact.
Second-Year Payments and Evaluation
The immediate next step is delivery of the second year’s budgeted payments, including the separately listed top-up. The source material does not give a schedule for those distributions or state when the government will publish further figures on registrations, payment methods or spending.
For Enra to inform wider policy debates, readers and policymakers will need outcome data as well as payment totals: for example, evidence about household finances, employment and the program’s costs over time. No evaluation timetable is provided in the source. Until such evidence appears, the clearest conclusion is limited: the Marshall Islands has sustained a broad quarterly payment through its first year, while the program’s effects and longer-term affordability remain unresolved.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution, a quarterly payment for citizens who live in the country. It has no means test or work requirement, according to the source material.
How many people received the final first-year payment?
The August 2026 payment was $215.85 per person to 40,714 people, according to the Marshall Islands Journal, citing the payment agency. President Hilda Heine said that was more than 95% of the resident population.
No conclusion about AI-related job losses is established. The source reports no AI-specific policy or published evaluation of Enra’s effects on employment. The program can offer lessons about payment delivery and funding, but its first year does not answer whether basic income would compensate workers for AI-related disruption.
How is the program funded?
The source says Enra is funded through a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, rather than through a new tax. The second-year budget includes $32.5 million for Enra and a separate $3.2 million top-up.
What evidence is still missing?
No evaluation of Enra has been published in the supplied reporting. Its effects on household finances, employment and other outcomes, as well as its long-term affordability, remain unclear.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
