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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands completed the first year of Enra, a quarterly payment for resident citizens, and approved $32.5 million for its second year, alongside a separate $3.2 million top-up. The program has reached more than 95% of the resident population, according to President Hilda Heine, but no evaluation has been published, and its trust-fund financing and economic effects remain central questions.
The Marshall Islands has completed the first year of Enra, a quarterly cash payment for resident citizens, and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year. The expansion comes as governments debate whether basic income could help people affected by artificial intelligence, but the Marshall Islands has not yet published an evaluation showing what Enra has changed.
Enra, formally called the Individual Support Distribution, began paying residents in November 2025. Four payments were made through August 2026. The final payment was $215.85 per person to 40,714 people, according to the program administrator at the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration, as reported by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine has said the program reaches more than 95% of the resident population.
The payment is available to Marshallese citizens living in the country, including children, without a means test or work requirement. Citizens living abroad are ineligible. Payments can be made by check, bank deposit or the Lomalo phone wallet. The amount is not guaranteed: Enra divides a fixed annual budget among eligible recipients, so the per-person payment fell to about $160 as registrations grew before a World Bank grant helped lift later payments.
On September 2, a US–Marshall Islands trust fund committee approved $32.5 million for year two. Parliament’s September 18 budget also included that amount and a separate $3.2 million Enra top-up. The prior year’s budget line was $27.6 million. The program’s main funding source is a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, valued at about $1.77 billion at the end of July 2026, according to the source report.
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 a rare case of a nationwide, continuing cash-payment program, rather than a time-limited trial covering a small sample. That makes its reach relevant to policymakers considering income support as automation and AI alter work. However, coverage alone does not establish whether payments reduce hardship, affect employment, or help households adapt to technological change.
The program is also not a direct test of an AI response. The source material does not connect Enra’s design or eligibility to AI-related job losses; it presents the Marshall Islands as a case that may inform a wider debate. Its first-year record confirms that payments can be delivered at national scale, while leaving their broader effects unmeasured in publicly available research.
How the payments are financed matters to any comparison. Enra relies on a dedicated trust fund and outside grant support, not a tax-funded scheme established to respond to automation. Its experience may therefore offer lessons about delivery and eligibility, but it cannot by itself show whether a larger or differently funded basic-income policy would be sustainable elsewhere.
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How Enra’s First Year Unfolded
The first Enra payment went out on November 26, 2025, at about $200 per person. More than 33,000 people were enrolled by September 30 that year. The next payment, initially expected in February, was delayed until late March as officials reviewed new registrations and checked whether applicants lived in the country. The reported rules remove citizens who have been away for more than three months, with exceptions including students, diplomats and people sent abroad for medical treatment.
As registrations rose above 37,000, the fixed annual pot meant the March payment fell to about $160 per person. By May, more than 41,000 people were on the eligible list. A $3.2 million World Bank grant, described in the source as $1.6 million per quarter, helped raise the third and fourth payments to about $200 or more. The August distribution reached 40,714 people.
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 source report contrasts it with Alaska’s annual dividend and other basic-income trials that were time-limited or limited to a sample. Enra’s phone wallet drew attention because it uses a digital token, USDM1. The ministry rejects descriptions of USDM1 as a stablecoin, cryptocurrency or central bank digital currency, saying it is a US-dollar sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated US Treasuries.
Effects and Costs Still Unmeasured
No evaluation of Enra has been published, according to the source report. The first year’s payment records show how many people received money and how payment amounts shifted, but do not establish effects on poverty, household spending, work, or health. Nor do they show whether the payments have helped residents respond to economic changes associated with AI.
The long-term affordability of the program is also unsettled. The IMF estimated Enra’s cost at 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and urged a move toward targeted support. The source material does not provide a detailed response from the government to that recommendation or establish how long current trust-fund resources can support payments at this level.
Other practical details remain unpublished, including how many recipients use the Lomalo wallet rather than checks or bank deposits. The source material reports that fewer people collected paper checks in the final round, but does not give a full breakdown by payment method. The relationship between the separate top-up, grant funding and future quarterly amounts also needs clarification.
Second-Year Payments Under Scrutiny
The next test is how the approved second-year budget translates into quarterly payments, including whether the amount per recipient stays near recent levels as registrations and eligibility change. Further reporting on payment schedules, recipient counts and the use of the World Bank grant would clarify how the program is operating.
Readers will also need a published assessment of outcomes to judge what Enra has delivered beyond broad reach. Until such evidence appears, the Marshall Islands’ experience can inform discussion of payment systems and universal eligibility, but claims about its impact as a response to AI disruption remain untested.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution, a quarterly payment for 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 of $215.85 went to 40,714 people, according to the Social Security Administration administrator, as reported by the Marshall Islands Journal.
How is Enra funded?
The program is mainly funded from a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The source report also describes a $3.2 million World Bank grant that helped raise payments during the first year.
Has Enra been shown to reduce poverty or offset AI job losses?
No published evaluation has established Enra’s effects on poverty, employment or household well-being. The source material does not show that it has offset AI-related job losses.
Why has the IMF criticized the program?
The IMF estimated Enra’s cost at 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and recommended replacing it with a targeted scheme at the first feasible opportunity. The source material does not include a detailed government response to that recommendation.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
