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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands has completed the first year of Enra, a quarterly payment for resident citizens, and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year. The rollout shows a nationwide payment can reach most of a country’s resident population, but no published evaluation yet establishes its effects or what it can teach AI policy debates.
The Marshall Islands has completed Enra’s first year, paying quarterly support to resident citizens, and approved $32.5 million for year two. The program offers a real-world case for discussions about income security as artificial intelligence changes work, but no published evaluation shows what Enra has changed or whether its results apply to larger, wealthier economies.
Enra, officially called the Individual Support Distribution, pays an equal share of a fixed annual fund to eligible Marshallese citizens living in the country. It has no means test or work requirement and includes children. Payments are made quarterly by check, bank deposit or the Lomalo phone wallet. Citizens living abroad are not eligible.
The first payment went out on November 26, 2025. Four payments were made through 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 the number represented more than 95% of the resident population. The total each person received over the year varied with the payment amounts and was roughly $780.
Because Enra divides a fixed budget among eligible recipients, the amount changed as registrations rose. A payment in March 2026 fell to about $160 as the registered population grew; a $3.2 million World Bank grant helped raise the subsequent payments to about $200. The U.S.–Marshall Islands trust fund committee approved $32.5 million for the second year on September 2, and parliament passed a budget on September 18 that included the same amount plus a $3.2 million top-up. The previous 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 Tell AI Policymakers
Enra matters to the AI debate because it is a national policy in operation, rather than a time-limited trial involving a small sample. It shows that a government can establish regular payments for a broad share of its resident citizens and use multiple delivery methods in a country where geography can make access to banking difficult. That is useful evidence about administration and reach, not yet proof that basic income can offset job losses from AI.
The Marshall Islands’ experience also does not settle whether a basic income would work in larger economies. The program’s payment is modest, its eligible population is limited to citizens living in the country, and its funding comes from a specific trust fund arrangement. Enra therefore offers a case to examine, not a ready-made model for countries considering how to respond to automation. Without a published evaluation, claims about its effects on poverty, employment, health or household spending remain unverified.
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How Enra Is Funded and Delivered
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 supplied source material. This makes Enra’s financing distinct from a permanent payment funded through general taxation. The International Monetary Fund estimated the program’s cost at 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and urged the government to replace it with a targeted scheme at the first feasible opportunity.
Enra’s phone-wallet option attracted attention because it can deliver a digital token called USDM1 on a public blockchain. The finance ministry describes USDM1 as a U.S.-dollar sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated U.S. Treasuries and rejects describing it as a stablecoin, cryptocurrency or central bank digital currency. The stated practical purpose of the wallet is to reach people on outer islands, where checks may take weeks and bank branches are concentrated on Majuro and Ebeye. The number of recipients using the wallet has not been published.
The Ministry of Finance calls Enra the world’s first country-wide, long-term universal basic income program. That is the government’s characterization; the source material notes that Alaska’s annual dividend differs in purpose and that other large basic-income efforts have been pilots. The available facts establish Enra’s national scope, but do not independently establish a global “first.”
What Enra’s First Year Cannot Show
No evaluation of Enra has been published, according to the source material. That leaves unanswered whether payments changed household income security, poverty, work choices, prices or access to essential goods. The completion of four payment rounds and the reported reach of the scheme measure implementation, not its social or economic effects.
Funding beyond the approved second-year allocation is also uncertain. The IMF has called for a move to targeted support, while the government has budgeted for continued universal payments. The available information does not establish how long the trust fund can sustain Enra at its current scale, whether future payment amounts will change, or what conditions might prompt a redesign. The number of people using the Lomalo wallet is likewise undisclosed.
The Second Year and Its Evidence
The next immediate development is delivery of Enra’s second-year payments under the approved budget. Payment dates and per-person amounts were not specified in the supplied material, and the amount may depend on the number of eligible recipients and any additional funding.
For readers looking to connect Enra to AI policy, the key next step is evidence about outcomes. A published assessment of household effects, eligibility administration and payment delivery would help distinguish what the program has demonstrated from what it might suggest for other countries. Until such findings are available, Enra is best understood as a large-scale policy experience that raises relevant questions, not an answer to how governments should address AI-related changes in work.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution: quarterly payments from a fixed annual budget to eligible Marshallese citizens who live in the country, including children. It has no means test or work requirement.
How much did recipients receive in the first year?
Payments varied as the number of eligible people changed. The first was about $201.92; the March 2026 payment fell to about $160, and the final August payment was $215.85 per person. The rough total across the year was about $780 per resident recipient.
How is Enra paid for?
The program draws on a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The government approved $32.5 million for the second year, plus a $3.2 million top-up in the budget.
No. Enra shows that a broad, recurring payment can be administered nationally in the Marshall Islands, but no published evaluation establishes its effects. Its results cannot yet show whether basic income would offset AI-related job changes, particularly in larger economies.
What remains unknown about the program?
Its measured effects on households and the economy have not been published. Future payment amounts, long-term funding and the number of recipients using the digital wallet also remain unclear from the available information.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
