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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands completed the first year of Enra, a quarterly payment for eligible citizens living in the country, and approved a larger budget for its second year. The program reached more than 40,000 people, but no public evaluation yet shows how it changed household finances or employment. Its experience offers context for AI-era basic income debates, not a direct forecast for richer countries.
The Marshall Islands has completed the first year of Enra, its quarterly payment to eligible citizens living in the country, and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year. The nationwide policy offers a real-world case for debates about income support as artificial intelligence reshapes work, but no public evaluation yet establishes what the payments changed for recipients.
Enra, officially called the Individual Support Distribution, pays an equal share of a fixed annual budget to eligible residents, with no means test or work requirement. Children are included; citizens living abroad do not qualify. Payments can be made by check, bank deposit or the Lomalo phone wallet. The Ministry of Finance describes Enra as the world’s first country-wide, long-term universal basic income program; that is the government’s characterization.
The first payment went out on November 26, 2025. Four payments followed through August 2026. The final distribution was $215.85 per person to 40,714 people, according to the Social Security Administration administrator cited by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine said that figure represented more than 95% of the resident population. The source reports a total of about $780 per recipient across year one, though amounts varied from quarter to quarter.
The per-person payment was not guaranteed at a fixed level. Enra divides a set pot among those on the eligible list, so payments fell to about $160 as registrations grew. A $3.2 million World Bank grant helped raise later distributions to roughly $200, and the final payment rose to $215.85. On September 2, a U.S.–Marshall Islands trust fund committee approved $32.5 million for year two; Parliament’s September 18 budget included that amount plus a separate $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 Show About Income Support
Enra is relevant to AI and employment discussions because it is a national policy rather than a small, time-limited trial. Its first year shows that a government can deliver recurring payments to a large share of its resident citizens, including children, through several payment channels. That operational experience is useful when considering how income support might work beyond pilot programs.
But the program does not answer whether basic income can offset job losses from AI, improve economic security, or change decisions about work. Those are questions for evidence, not conclusions that follow from the payments alone. The Marshall Islands also has a distinctive source of funding: a trust fund established under its Compact of Free Association with the United States. That differs from the tax systems and labor markets of richer countries asking how to respond to automation.
The fiscal scale is another consideration. 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 is the IMF’s policy position, not a finding that the program has failed. The debate is therefore about both household support and whether a broad payment can be sustained and justified against other public needs.
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How Enra Reached Its First Year
Enra was funded from a trust fund created under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, rather than from a dedicated increase in taxes. The fund was valued at about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026, according to the source material. Year two’s approved program allocation is higher than the prior year’s budget line, while the separate top-up adds further support.
Enrollment grew after the program launched. The Social Security Administration had enrolled 33,119 people by September 30, 2025, and the first payment in November was about $201.92. As registrations rose above 37,000, officials delayed the next payment while reviewing eligibility, including whether applicants lived in the country. The source says people absent for more than three months are removed from the list, with exceptions for certain cases such as students and people receiving medical treatment abroad.
Enra also uses a digital wallet called Lomalo, which can deliver a token named USDM1. The finance ministry describes USDM1 as a U.S.-dollar sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated U.S. Treasuries, and says it is not a cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency or stablecoin. Some media reports have called it a stablecoin. The wallet is one payment option; checks and bank deposits remain available, an important distinction in a country where banking access is concentrated on the most populated atolls.
What One Year Has Not Established
No evaluation of Enra’s effects had been published in the source material. That leaves unanswered whether the payments changed poverty, food security, household debt, employment, or recipients’ ability to manage rising prices. The first-year figures establish reach and distribution amounts, not the program’s wider social or economic impact.
Other details are also unavailable. The number of recipients using Lomalo, bank deposits or checks has not been published, and the source does not provide a full breakdown of who received payments or how much people spent. It is also not clear from the material whether the approved second-year funding will produce stable quarterly amounts as enrollment changes, or how the government will respond to the IMF’s recommendation.
The connection to AI remains an interpretation, not a demonstrated result of Enra. The source does not report that the program was created in response to automation or that AI has caused job losses in the Marshall Islands. Its relevance is comparative: it gives policymakers a functioning national payment program to examine while the effects of AI on work remain under discussion.
Tracking Enra’s Second-Year Payments
The next test is how the second-year allocation translates into actual quarterly distributions. Future payment announcements should clarify the amounts, recipient totals, and whether the government continues eligibility checks as the list changes. Reporting on how recipients access the money and whether the program publishes an evaluation would help distinguish administrative reach from measurable outcomes.
Parliament has approved the budget figures described in the source, but the material does not give a schedule for the next payment or explain whether the government plans a formal impact study. The IMF’s recommendation also leaves an unresolved policy choice: continue a universal payment or move toward targeted support. Until new data or an evaluation is released, Enra can inform the practical discussion of basic income, but it cannot settle what AI-era income policy should be elsewhere.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution: quarterly payments divided equally among 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 was $215.85 per person to 40,714 people, according to the Social Security Administration administrator cited by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine said the figure represented more than 95% of the resident population.
Is the payment a fixed amount?
No. Enra divides a fixed annual budget among eligible recipients, so the amount can change as the list grows or funding changes. Payments ranged from about $160 to $215.85 during the first year, according to the source material.
Not on the available evidence. Enra provides a national example of recurring payments, but no public evaluation has established its effects, and the source does not link the program to AI-driven job losses.
Where does Enra’s funding come from?
The program is funded through a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The approved second-year allocation is $32.5 million, with a separate $3.2 million top-up in the budget.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
