Taiwan brought a series of concrete research proposals and pilot plans to the forefront of the global discussion on basic income. At the annual congress of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), held in 2026 in Toronto, Canada, with nearly 700 participants from more than 30 countries and a total of 150 proposal submissions and presentations, the UBI Taiwan team presented work ranging from youth income and local experiments to protecting vulnerable groups, working with businesses and governance in the age of artificial intelligence.
UBI Taiwan president Jia-Kuan Su announced during the congress that the organisation plans to become a policy think tank, aiming to provide concrete reference points for the design of Taiwan’s social safety net through policy research, economic calculations, evaluation of local pilot programmes, business partnerships and international exchanges.
In the same context, policy researcher Ping-Yu Lin presented a proposal for “a youth basic income tailored to Taiwan”, which starts with young people’s financial security and includes income support, tax reforms and plans for funding sources, seeking to turn basic income from an ideological proposal into a policy plan that can be assessed.
At the local level, researcher Huang Ying-Jie presented a framework for evaluating a pilot programme focused on Yunlin County. The research analyses the complementary economic structures of the towns of Douliu, Huwei and Beigang and examines a cash payment mechanism with a gradual phase-out, intended to reduce the so-called “benefits cliff” and connect smoothly with the existing social welfare system.
Meanwhile, researcher Joyce introduced an analytical framework based on System Dynamics, examining how basic income, if treated as long-term social infrastructure, could affect economic vitality, transitions into work, mental health and social participation through different feedback channels.
Of particular interest was the proposal for a “three-tier architecture” for people with disabilities, presented by researcher Wu Zhi-Wei. This framework proposes an equal basic income as a shared foundation for everyone, additional cash support for the extra living costs faced by people with disabilities, and the parallel provision of public services and support resources, seeking to bridge the tension between universal, equal payments and specific additional needs.
At a broader level, researcher Wen-Hsin Sung examined Taiwan’s recent experience with cash payments: support programmes during the pandemic, economic stimulus vouchers and the two universal cash distributions in 2023 and 2025, which recorded take-up rates above 99%. According to the researcher, the question is no longer whether the state can distribute money, but why it does so, which structural problems it wants to solve and how this policy can fit into a more comprehensive plan for long-term income security.
Artificial intelligence was a significant part of the discussion. Legislator Ju-Chun Ko argued that if artificial general intelligence (AGI) leads to high productivity and an “age of abundance”, the very substance of basic income will need to be redefined. He referred to the vision of “Universal Basic AI”, meaning equal access for citizens to computing power and AI production capabilities, and proposed the idea of an “AI Coin” as a technical distribution mechanism so that the benefits of rising productivity are shared across society.
In the area of business practice, Pin-I Lee presented the “Life Redesign Project”, which is being carried out in partnership with Gogolook’s financial brand JUJI. This is a basic income experiment funded by business resources: a fixed amount of financial support is provided unconditionally each month, while researchers observe how a steady income affects participants’ work, financial anxiety and life choices. Lee also raised the question of whether businesses can move beyond traditional philanthropy or one-off donations and use their core business capabilities for social innovation, creating a sustainable model that combines social impact, brand differentiation and commercial viability.
Young researchers from the educational organisation Ascent Academy led the second half of the forum. Sophia Chang examined the tension between benefits for stable employment and upfront financial support in Taiwan’s youth employment policies. Andrew Chang analysed cases from South Asia, comparing conditional cash transfers (CCT) with unconditional cash transfers (UCT) in terms of preventing child labour and increasing participation in education. Wen-Xuan Zhong presented an exploratory questionnaire study on the possible relationship between anxiety about AI-related job losses and public support for basic income. As the announcement notes, the three young researchers did not assume there was a single correct policy answer, but began with the data and the limitations of their research.
At the end of the forum, the president of UBI Taiwan announced that the organisation plans to hold an “Indo-Pacific Basic Income Summit” at National Taiwan University in June 2027. The summit is expected to bring together international basic income researchers, organisations implementing programmes in the region, policymakers, businesses and youth communities, while a “White Paper on Youth Basic Income in Taiwan” is also planned for publication. The aim is to bring the international discussion that began in Toronto back to Taiwan and connect it with the public debate ahead of the 2028 national elections.
Local pilot programmes, business experiments, systems analyses and youth research together present a picture in which the question is how a universal income can be designed to address specific structural problems: stagnant wages for young people, the welfare system’s “cliffs”, the needs of people with disabilities and the unequal distribution of gains from artificial intelligence.
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