Minimum Income Guarantee: report - easy read version

The aim

The Scottish Government asked experts to design a Minimum Income Guarantee for Scotland.

The experts make up the Expert Group. This is their report ‘The Minimum Income Guarantee: a roadmap to dignity for all’.

The Expert Group had help to design a Minimum Income Guarantee from people who have had money worries. They are the Experts by Experience Panel.

This report explains how a Minimum Income Guarantee could be delivered. The Scottish Government will look into if and how they can make this happen.

A Minimum Income Guarantee is a level of income that allows people to live a dignified life. This means making sure everyone has enough money to live well.

Reaching this level of income can happen through good work, public services, making sure people can pay for the things they need and social security.

This means that a Minimum Income Guarantee must look at improving work, services, costs and benefits for it to be successful.

We don’t always know what will happen in life. A Minimum Income Guarantee will provide support to everyone when they need it.

People might need help because of changes in their personal lives like losing a job, getting sick, having a disability or having kids.

People could also need help because there have been changes to our country like the pandemic, the population growing older and technology becoming more advanced.

The Minimum Income Guarantee will help people through these changes.

Delivering a Minimum Income Guarantee will take time. It’s a big change that will make our country better and fairer.

This will need support from a lot of different people to make it happen, including political leaders, companies and the public.

A Minimum Income Guarantee could help the Scottish Government save money on other problems that come from people not having enough money, like how busy our health and social care services are.

A Minimum Income Guarantee would give people and our country a better chance at doing well.