New research released today explores how a Minimum Income Guarantee could be piloted for unpaid carers in Scotland.  

The research report, by Carers Scotland and IPPR Scotland, explores the positive impact for unpaid carers such an income guarantee could deliver, and outlines a viable model of how it could be implemented. 

A Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) is an assurance that no one will fall below a set income level that would allow them to live a dignified life. A MIG can be delivered through employment, targeted payments and also through other types of support or services to be provided or subsidised by the state. 

Unpaid carers save Scotland £15.9 billion each year1 by providing care and support to family members, friends and neighbours who could not get by without their help. However, their caring role can have a great personal cost, including reduced financial security, poorer health and damaged earning and career prospects. Unpaid carers in Scotland 56% are more likely to be in poverty and 60% more likely to be in deep poverty2 than those without caring responsibilities.  

The Minimum Income Guarantee pilot proposed by this research aims to recognise the diverse challenges that unpaid carers on low incomes face and respond by delivering tailored support in the form of both services, non-cash benefits and additional payments, to bring these unpaid carers up to the minimum income standard. 

Richard Meade from Carers Scotland said: 

“Too many of Scotland’s carers live in poverty and we need to tackle this urgently. This research provides an exciting proposal to deliver increased financial and practical support for unpaid carers which has been designed with the knowledge and experience of unpaid carers. The pilot offers an opportunity to make a real difference to those unpaid carers involved and to test how a Minimum Income Guarantee might work for all of Scotland in the future. We believe the proposal provides a unique opportunity for the Scottish Government to begin to meet the challenge of deeply entrenched poverty, poor health and reduced life chances that too many unpaid carers experience in Scotland.” 

Dave Hawkey from IPPR Scotland said: 

“More than half of carers in Scotland who receive universal credit live in poverty. Our pilot is designed to change that—offering a holistic support package that not only connects carers with essential services but also significantly boosts their incomes, lifting the vast majority above the poverty line. This initiative will provide crucial insight into the financial struggles of unpaid carers, laying the foundation for long-term reforms that ease their challenges and properly recognise the invaluable contribution they make to Scotland.” 

Since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, there have been changes made to support unpaid carers, however, given the challenges carers face, the pace of change has been slow and, in many cases, improvements have been inadequate in combatting challenges such as the cost of living crisis.  

Carers Scotland and IPPR Scotland believe that this Minimum Income Guarantee pilot provides an opportunity to increase the pace of change for unpaid carers, delivering improved financial support and services to develop a more equitable and supportive system for unpaid carers in Scotland. 

ENDS 

Notes to editor 

• This pilot MIG for unpaid carers will aim to respond to challenges unpaid carers face, seeking to deliver enhanced and tailored support with the aim of bringing carers on low incomes to the income standard. The Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group (2023) has argued that a MIG should ensure an income level at some point between the poverty line and the Minimum Income Standard (MIS), calculated by the University of Loughborough. Accordingly, we have estimated the scale of payments that would be needed if based on the poverty line, the Minimum Income Standard, and an intermediate level. Our intermediate level, 90 per cent of the MIS, is the income standard already used by the Scottish Government in its definition of fuel poverty.  

• This research report responds to a commitment from the Scottish Government, in its 2023/24 Programme for Government, to explore a pilot minimum income guarantee for unpaid carers. It is based on research with unpaid carers, academics and other expert stakeholders and informed by groundwork by the Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group. 
   

• 1 Valuing Carers 2022: Scotland, Carers Scotland and Centre for Care, November 2024. 
   

• 2 Poverty and financial hardship of unpaid carers in Scotland, Carers Scotland, WPI Economics and abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, 2024. 
   

• This work by Carers Scotland and IPPR Scotland to explore and develop options for a Minimum Income Guarantee for unpaid carers has been funded by The Robertson Trust.  
   
  The Robertson Trust is the largest independent grant-making trust in Scotland and are here to prevent and reduce poverty and trauma in Scotland, funding, supporting, and influencing solutions to drive social change. www.therobertsontrust.org.uk 

• About Carers Scotland Carers Scotland is a charity set up to help the hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland who care, unpaid, for family or friends and is a membership organisation of carers for carers. Carers Scotland is the Scottish nation office of Carers UK. The charity provides information and advice about caring alongside practical and emotional support for carers. Carers Scotland campaigns and influences policy makers, employers and service providers, using carers’ insights and lived experiences, to help improve carers’ lives. 
  www.carersuk.org/scotland 

• About IPPR Scotland IPPR, the Institute for Public Policy Research, is an independent charity working towards a fairer, greener, and more prosperous society. IPPR are researchers, communicators, and policy experts creating tangible progressive change, and turning bold ideas into common sense realities. Working across the UK, IPPR, IPPR North, and IPPR Scotland are deeply connected to the people of our nations and regions, and the issues our communities face. IPPR Scotland works to shape public policy in pursuit of a fairer, greener, more prosperous Scotland. Since 2015 we have delivered significant impact, successfully influencing decision-making in Scotland across a range of topics, from tax and spend, to education and skills. 
  www.ippr.org/scotland 
   

Assets
Find the full report here.

Media contact  

For the Carers Scotland press office please contact: 
 

• Christine Robertson, Media and Communications Officer, christine.robertson@carerscotland.org
  Tel: 07864814804 

• Fiona Collie, Head of Public Affairs and Communications,  
  fiona.collie@carerscotland.org
  Tel: 07967826238