The road to a Minimum Income Guarantee: a lifeline for single parents

One Parent Families Scotland welcomes the final report from the Scottish Government’s Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group, setting out a bold proposal to ensure no one falls below a basic, dignified income, whether working, studying, or caring, offering crucial support for single parents, who are more likely to face financial hardship.

What is being proposed?

A Minimum Income Guarantee is a plan to ensure everyone in Scotland has enough money to live a decent life: enough to cover essentials like food, housing, heating, and transport, no matter their circumstances. It is based on what the public agrees is needed for a basic but dignified standard of living.

Experts, including One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), are calling for:

• Immediate steps like raising the Scottish Child Payment to £55 per week and ending both the two-child cap and the five-week wait for Universal Credit
• These changes alone could cut child poverty by six percentage points
• By 2036, an interim MIG could be introduced, paying around £11,500 a year for a single adult, with more for parents
• Over time, this would become a permanent part of public services and could even replace Universal Credit

Satwat Rehman, CEO of OPFS and a member of the Expert Group, helped ensure the realities of single parents in Scotland were central to the discussions and recommendations.

“A Minimum Income Guarantee would be lifechanging for the families we support. Too many single parents – the majority of whom are women – are trapped in low-paid, part-time, insecure work while navigating a social security system that is complex and inadequate.

“A MIG would provide a lifeline, ensuring no single-parent household falls below a dignified income level. It’s about more than money – it’s about giving families the chance to thrive, not just survive.”

The report sets out a practical roadmap to a MIG in Scotland, recommending urgent reforms to social security, work, and services. These include:

• An end to sanctions, benefit caps, and freezes
• Reforms to Universal Credit, including the abolition of the five-week wait
• A fairer local taxation system to help fund progressive policies
• Immediate investment in the Scottish Child Payment and other devolved benefits
• A phased approach leading to an interim MIG by 2036

The experiences of single parents underline the urgency of change. One single parent supported by OPFS in Dundee said:

“I’ve had to juggle home life, two young children, university, presentations, plus three-month placements at a time. I’ve got to fit bank work in as well. I’m doing alright but it has been a real struggle.”

A Minimum Income Guarantee would help address these pressures by ensuring that no one falls below a basic, dignified income level – whether they are in work, studying, or caring.