The Scottish Government has the powers to bring in a minimum income guarantee
The Covid pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, and years of austerity have demonstrated how important it is to provide greater financial security for people throughout Scotland.
Society needs a strong safety net, because anyone can fall on hard times.
But, right now, there are gaping holes in that net – low-paid and insecure work, services that are inaccessible or have disappeared, and a social security system with so many limits, caps, freezes and sanctions that it's failing to provide the very basics.
It's no wonder we have widening inequalities and deepening poverty for many people and communities.
Addressing these challenges will not be easy, but we can't afford to do nothing.
Today, there are hundreds of thousands of children growing up in our communities, without access to the essentials that help us all to reach our full potential.
Poverty is not only bad for society; it is bad for our economy too.
That's why, in 2021, the Scottish Government brought together representatives from academics, think tanks, trade unions, and anti-poverty charities across Scotland to examine one big idea to tackle thi s: a minimum income guarantee.
We don't have to wait – our Scottish Parliament already has the powers to start us on this vital journey.
A minimum income guarantee is a simple yet transformative proposal. It means that we set an income floor that nobody can fall below, providing a guarantee of dignity and security for everyone.
As well as lifting hundreds of thousands out of poverty, it would reduce demands on public services which deal with the social and health problems caused by inequality.
We believe Scotland should take swift action.
We should move quickly to scrap the two-child cap and end the five-week wait for help through social security.
We should also introduce a pilot of a full minimum income guarantee to test and learn from, and double the Scottish Child Payment by 2031.
The UK Government can support by working with Scottish agencies to test the ending of punitive sanctions in the welfare system in Scotland. It could also look at taking action across the UK, meaning the Scottish Government could focus on making faster progress on our other recommendations.
Everything we have proposed in the next term of the Scottish Parliament is doable and affordable.
Will it work? Yes. Can we afford it? Yes. Will it happen? That is up to our politicians, and up to us.
Our work is an invitation to imagine a different future, with a fairer deal at its heart – security for all, opportunities for all, and dignity for all. That's a future worth working for.
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