Iohaan Anjolok remembers when a bowl of ramen and a bottle of water together cost just $US1.50 in the Marshall Islands.
"Now the boiled egg alone is a dollar apiece," he said.
"It used to be 10c."
The pre-COVID-19 prices feel like a distant memory for Mr Anjolok, who lives pay cheque to pay cheque as a paralegal worker in the Marshall Islands capital, Majuro.
But he and many other Marshallese have received a lifeline thanks to a world-first universal basic income (UBI) scheme, promising to deliver citizens $US800 ($1,130) across four payments per year.
A universal basic income is a regular, unconditional payment provided by the government to every citizen, regardless of income, employment status or wealth.
The program, expected to cost about $US30 million annually, will not cost Marshallese taxpayers and is covered by a trust fund under the Compact of Free Association, an agreement that provides the Marshall Islands with substantial American money in exchange for guaranteeing US military access.
The Marshall Islands government says the initiative will act as a financial safety net for the nation's 43,000 citizens and help stem high levels of outward migration.
It also places the Marshall Islands at the centre of a real-time global policy experiment, as governments and policymakers consider ways to support citizens through a range of economic disruptions like artificial intelligence.
"It's definitely a [morale] boost, and it's brought a lot of smiles to people's faces," Mr Anjolok said.
Unconditional payments
Thirty-three thousand citizens registered for the first quarterly $US200 payment in November — an early Christmas windfall for a country grappling with rising living costs and a 10 per cent unemployment rate.
Nearly 40,000 people are expected to receive the second payment, regardless of age, sex, occupation or income.
Payments are made through bank transfers or through cryptocurrency, a form of digital currency.
For Mr Anjolok, the combined funds will provide a significant boost for his household, which includes his wife and two children aged 11 and three — all of whom are eligible for the payment.
"We have divided our shares, so we save half and use the other half on expenses," he said.
"The average person here would make less than $200 a week. I struggle with bills myself, so UBI is definitely a boost."
Marshall Islands Finance Minister David Paul said the payments were designed to give peace of mind to citizens struggling to put food on the table.
He does not think they will hamper productivity or incentivise people to quit their jobs.
"According to the last census, 46 per cent were worried about where they would get their next meal, so that shows you the level of poverty people endure," he said.
"For a family of five, it's a $1,000 a quarter so it provides a level of economic security."
But not everyone is happy with the program's unconditional nature.
Marshallese senator Kitlang Kabua said social handouts should only go to people most in need — and under certain conditions.
"These could be things like ensuring that a recipient's children are in school or people are coming to doctors' appointments or children are getting their immunisations properly updated," she said.
Mr Paul disagrees, saying only a small portion of the population would be ineligible for the payments under those conditions, which would also be costly to enforce and therefore not worth imposing.
"Making everyone eligible is a lot easier and transparent and minimises risks of corrupt practices," he said.
Former Marshallese health secretary Jack Niedenthal agrees, saying the UBI would allow people who are unemployed or surviving on minimum wage to live healthier lifestyles.
However, he acknowledged that the payments could exacerbate alcohol or substance abuse issues among some in the community.
"But I think for most people who get this extra money, it enables them to buy better, healthier food, and I think that's what a lot of people will spend this money on," he said.
Jioji Ravulo, a professor of social work and policy studies at the University of Sydney, said UBI would reduce poverty and allow people to contribute to the economy when there were no employment opportunities.
"Otherwise, poverty continues to be perpetuated, creating more social issues, which have a larger financial and economic burden to society," Professor Ravulo said.
No banks, no problem
Meanwhile, Mr Paul said the option of cryptocurrency payments would let the UBI reach citizens living on remote atolls, many of whom lack access to banks, ATMs and reliable non-satellite internet.
He said Starlink's low-earth orbit satellite service enabled remote communities to receive payments of a kind of cryptocurrency called USDM1.
Monique Taylor, a lecturer in world politics at the University of Helsinki, said that kind of cryptocurrency was backed by US Treasury securities and designed to be more stable compared to typical privately-issued cryptocurrency.
But she said it was unclear whether citizens would find it genuinely easier and more useful than traditional forms of payment.
"It hinges on digital literacy, how widely merchants are able and willing to accept it, and whether it makes everyday transactions easier," she said.
"Technology on its own does not drive adoption — it has to make people's lives simpler and more convenient."
About 60 per cent of the first round of payments were deposited directly into bank accounts, with the remainder issued as paper cheques, according to the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration.
It is unclear exactly how many people have signed up to receive cryptocurrency payments.
When asked, Mr Anjolok said he did not know of any.
Island exodus
He does, however, know many Marshallese people who have left the country.
"My neighbourhood and the families I grew up next to, most have migrated," he said.
The Marshall Islands holds special immigration agreements with the US, letting its people live there without visas.
One in five Marshallese citizens has left the Pacific nation's population since 2011, according to 2021 census data.
The census report cited widespread poverty and hunger, and said a third of households reported they "ran out of food".
Mr Paul said the UBI program would offer citizens an incentive to stay.
"Out of every 1,000 births, we have 300 deaths, and of the remaining 700, about 30 per cent migrate," he said.
"If we can provide an incentive like UBI, it's an investment in our people."
