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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 year two. The program reached more than 95% of the resident population, according to the president, but no evaluation has established its effects on work, poverty or household security. Its relevance to AI debates is therefore a policy example, not proof that basic income can offset job losses.
The Marshall Islands completed Enra’s first year of quarterly payments to resident citizens in August 2026 and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year in September. The nationwide policy offers a real-world example for people debating how governments might support workers as artificial intelligence changes jobs, but no published evaluation yet shows whether Enra has affected employment, incomes or poverty.
Enra, officially called the Individual Support Distribution, pays an equal share of a set annual budget to eligible Marshallese citizens living in the country. It has no means test or work requirement and includes children. Citizens living abroad are not eligible. Payments can be issued by check, bank deposit or the Lomalo phone wallet.
The first payment was sent on November 26, 2025. Four quarterly payments followed through 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 program reached more than 95% of the resident population.
Payment amounts changed as enrollment grew and extra funding arrived. The initial payment was about $202; the second fell to around $160 after more people registered and the annual pot was divided among them. A $3.2 million World Bank grant helped raise the third and fourth payments to roughly $200 or more. The program’s second-year budget includes $32.5 million for Enra and a separate $3.2 million top-up, compared with a $27.6 million Enra allocation in 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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A Real-World Test, Not an AI Answer
For workers concerned that AI could reduce demand for some jobs, Enra offers a current example of government support that is not conditional on employment. Its design treats payments as a shared floor for resident citizens rather than assistance limited to people who meet an income test. That makes it relevant to arguments about whether income security should be tied to having a job when technology changes the types and availability of work.
But the program does not yet establish that basic income protects workers from AI-driven displacement. The source material reports no published evaluation of Enra’s effects on work, household spending, poverty or well-being, and it does not connect the program to measured AI-related job losses. The country’s experience can inform questions about delivery and funding; it cannot yet show whether the same approach would work in larger economies or during a technology-led employment shock.
Its scale and financing also matter. The International Monetary Fund estimated Enra’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. That disagreement highlights a central question for other governments: whether a broad payment is worth its cost compared with directing limited funds to people in greatest need.
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How Enra’s Payments Are Funded
Enra is funded from a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, rather than from a new tax. The fund was valued at about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026, according to the source material. That financing arrangement is specific to the Marshall Islands and differs from proposals in countries that would need to pay for a national income program through taxes or other public spending.
The policy’s practical design reflects the country’s geography. Bank branches are concentrated on Majuro and Ebeye, while residents of outer islands may wait weeks for mailed checks. The government offers check, deposit and mobile-wallet options to distribute payments. Lomalo uses a digital token called USDM1. The finance ministry describes it as a US-dollar sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated US Treasuries and rejects describing it as a cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency or stablecoin. How many recipients use the wallet has not been published.
Enra began paying recipients in November 2025; the first full year ended with the August 2026 payment. The Economist drew renewed attention to the policy with an article published October 29, 2026, but the rollout itself was not new. The latest development is the completed first year and the government’s decision to budget more for the second.
What One Year Has Not Shown
No evaluation of Enra has been published in the source material. It therefore remains unknown whether the payments changed employment choices, household incomes, poverty levels or recipients’ ability to cope with rising costs. The number of eligible people grew during the year, but enrollment and payment totals alone do not establish what the policy changed.
Some operational details are also unavailable. The number of recipients using Lomalo has not been disclosed, and the source does not provide a full breakdown of how people received their payments. The final payment count was 40,714, while the president described reach as more than 95% of the resident population; the precise basis and timing for that percentage are not detailed here.
It is also unclear how durable the current funding will be, how the program’s costs may change, or whether the government will respond to the IMF’s recommendation. Nothing in the available material shows that Enra was designed as a direct response to AI or has been tested as a response to job displacement.
Year Two and the Evidence Ahead
The immediate next stage is delivery of Enra’s second-year budget, approved by parliament on September 18, 2026, following approval by the US–Marshall Islands trust fund committee on September 2. The planned $32.5 million allocation is larger than last year’s $27.6 million line, with a further $3.2 million listed as an Enra top-up. Payment dates and amounts for every quarter have not been specified in the source material.
Readers will also need an independently reported evaluation to judge outcomes beyond the number of recipients and the payments made. Evidence on household finances, work and poverty would help show what Enra accomplishes and what trade-offs its cost entails. Until then, the program offers a live case of nationwide basic income, but its implications for workers facing AI remain a question for further evidence rather than a demonstrated result.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution, a quarterly payment shared equally among eligible Marshallese citizens who live in the country. It has no means test or work requirement and includes children.
How much did recipients receive in the first year?
Payment amounts varied as enrollment and funding changed. The final quarterly payment in August 2026 was $215.85 per person. The source estimates that a resident received roughly $780 across the four payments in the first year.
How is the program funded?
Enra is funded from a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The source says the fund was worth about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026. A World Bank grant also helped raise payments during the first year.
Does Enra show that basic income can protect workers from AI?
Not yet. No published evaluation in the source material measures Enra’s effects on jobs, incomes or poverty, and it does not report AI-related employment outcomes. The program is relevant to the debate but is not proof of an effective response to AI-driven job changes.
What does the IMF say about Enra?
The IMF estimated the program’s cost at 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and recommended replacing it with a targeted scheme at the first feasible opportunity. The government has approved funding for Enra’s second year.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
