• Ireland plans to make a basic income for artists permanent in 2026. • In a three-year-long pilot program, officials paid local artists $1,500 monthly. • Recipients in the pilot said the basic income payments improved their daily lives.

As Ireland's $1,500-a-month basic income pilot program for creatives nears its end in February, officials have to answer a simple question: Is it worth it?

With four months to go, they say the answer is yes.

Earlier this month, Ireland's government announced its 2026 budget, which includes "a successor to the pilot Basic Income Scheme for the Arts to begin next year" among its expenditures.

Ireland is just one of many places experimenting with guaranteed basic income programs, which provide recurring, unrestricted payments to people in a certain de

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