Scottish Government shamefully dropping Minimum Income Guarantee commitment
The Scottish Greens have accused the Scottish Government of dropping their long-standing commitment to a Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) that would provide everyone with a minimum dignified income.
The idea would determine the level of income below which nobody should be expected to live, and use social security, free travel and other policies to lift people above that poverty line.
The Bute House agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Greens committed to:
“prioritise work to deliver a Minimum Income Guarantee, focusing on what can be done with the existing powers held by the Scottish Parliament to ensure that people in Scotland can live dignified, healthy and secure lives.”
Last year, the working group that emerged from that commitment published a detailed roadmap on how to achieve a MIG by 2036.
But the Child Poverty Delivery Plan, outlining the Scottish Government’s strategy to tackle child poverty up to 2030, did not mention the idea once.
Scottish Greens social justice spokesperson Maggie Chapman MSP said:
“A Minimum Income Guarantee could be a game-changer in our fight against poverty.
“By ensuring nobody can fall below a minimum income needed to live a dignified life, we can affirm the essential worth and humanity of everyone in our society.
“We know that we won’t meet our legally-binding targets to reduce child poverty without more investment in social security. And we also know that what we are currently doing is not enough to address increasing deep poverty.
“The MIG Working Group spent 4 long years working on proposals, involving the effort of numerous charities who supported them and the Government in that process.
“But this week’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan contains zero references to the Minimum Income Guarantee.
"They don’t want to admit it, but the Scottish Government has clearly killed-off a Minimum Income Guarantee, and along with it, the best chance of meeting our child poverty targets. This is shameful.
“The very least they can do is to be honest about it, yet all we got from the Cabinet Secretary in Parliament this week was obfuscation.
“If we are to have a poverty-free Scotland, we must press ahead - now - with plans to ensure we use social security and other entitlements to enable everyone to live in dignity.”