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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands completed Enra’s first year of quarterly payments to eligible resident citizens and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year, alongside a $3.2 million top-up. The program offers a real-world case for AI-era income policy, but no published evaluation yet shows how payments affect recipients or employment.
The Marshall Islands has completed Enra’s first year, a quarterly basic-income program for eligible citizens living in the country, and approved $32.5 million for its second year. The development offers a live national-policy example for debates about income support as artificial intelligence reshapes work, but no published evaluation yet shows what the payments have changed.
Enra, officially called 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 Social Security Administration administrator, as reported by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine said the program reached more than 95% of the resident population.
Payments were not a fixed amount: the program divides a set budget among eligible recipients. The first payment was about $201.92 to more than 33,000 people. As registrations grew, the March 2026 payment fell to about $160. A $3.2 million World Bank grant supported the third and fourth payments, bringing them back to roughly $200 or more. The source estimates that a resident received about $780 over the year.
For year two, a committee overseeing the US–Marshall Islands trust fund approved $32.5 million on September 2. Parliament then passed a budget on September 18 that included that amount for Enra and a separate $3.2 million top-up. The previous year’s budget line was $27.6 million. The money is drawn from a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, rather than a new tax, according to the source.
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 National Test for Income Policy
Enra matters to the AI debate because it moves the discussion beyond short trials and projections: a government is distributing cash nationally, including to children, without a means test or work requirement. That makes the program relevant to questions about how income support might work if automation changes employment or earnings. It does not, by itself, show how a similar policy would perform in a larger or wealthier country.
The distinction is important: Enra is not an AI response, and its stated purpose is not to compensate workers displaced by technology. The available account records payment amounts, coverage and funding decisions, but provides no published findings on household spending, poverty, health, work choices or economic effects. Its first year therefore offers evidence about delivery and administration, not proof of broader outcomes.
Its financing also limits the comparison. The program draws on a dedicated trust fund, which was valued at about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026, and on a World Bank grant for part of the first year. Other governments would need to address how a recurring payment could be funded and sustained under their own fiscal conditions.
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How Enra Reached Its First Year
The first Enra payment went out on November 26, 2025. The program covers Marshallese citizens who live in the country, including children; citizens living abroad are not eligible. The Social Security Administration maintains the eligibility list, while the Ministry of Finance oversees the money. Payments can be made by check, bank deposit or the Lomalo phone wallet.
Eligibility checks and new registrations affected both timing and payment size. The second payment, initially expected earlier, was delayed until late March 2026 while officials reviewed registrations and residency. The source says citizens away for more than three months are removed from the list, with exceptions including students, diplomats and people sent overseas for medical treatment. As the list grew, each person’s share of the fixed annual pot declined.
The digital wallet drew attention because it uses a token called USDM1 on a public blockchain. The Ministry of Finance describes it as a US-dollar sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated US Treasuries and rejects the labels cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency and stablecoin. The wallet is one payment option; the number of recipients using it has not been published.
Outcomes Still Lack Published Evidence
The largest gap is the lack of a published evaluation. The source reports that the program has reached tens of thousands of people, but coverage does not establish impact. It remains unknown whether Enra has changed poverty, food security, household finances, employment or recipients’ ability to cope with price increases.
Several operational details are also unavailable. The number of people using Lomalo has not been published, and the precise effects of the payment rules on people moving in and out of the country are not established in the supplied account. The ministry’s description of Enra as the world’s first program of its kind is a government claim; the source says comparable examples differ in duration or coverage.
The IMF’s assessment is a separate policy judgment, not evidence that the program has failed. It estimated Enra’s cost at 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and urged a move to targeted support. How the government will balance that recommendation against its decision to fund a second year remains unclear.
Scrutiny Turns to Year Two
Enra is set to continue under the approved second-year funding. The next useful milestones are the quarterly payment records, any changes to eligibility or payment channels, and publication of an evaluation that measures outcomes for recipients. Those details would help clarify whether the larger budget changes payment levels or simply supports a broader eligible list.
For readers following AI and income policy, the key test is whether officials or independent researchers produce evidence that can be compared with other settings. Until then, Enra can inform discussion about national-scale delivery and funding, but claims about its effects on work or AI-related displacement would go beyond what the first-year record confirms.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution, a quarterly payment for eligible Marshallese citizens living in the country. It has no means test or work requirement, according to the source.
How much did recipients receive in the first year?
Payments varied because a fixed budget was divided among eligible recipients. The last payment, in August 2026, was $215.85 per person; the source estimates a resident received roughly $780 across the first year.
How is the program funded?
The program is funded through a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, with a $3.2 million World Bank grant supporting two first-year payments. The second-year budget includes $32.5 million for Enra and a separate $3.2 million top-up.
Does Enra show what basic income would do in an AI-driven economy?
Not yet. Enra provides a national example of payment delivery, but no published evaluation in the source measures its effects on employment, poverty or other household outcomes, and the program was not introduced as an AI response.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
