Living Income: New Economics Foundation (NEF)

A Living Income: ensuring everyone can afford a decent standard of living.

NEF is campaigning for a Living Income - an idea which very much draws on the idea of a Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). A Living Income sets a level below which no one can fall, so we can all survive and thrive. We therefore very much support the Scottish Government's exploration into the idea and plans to implement measures in the Scottish parliament that move us closer to a Living Income.

You can find out much more about how a Living Income works by visiting our website: https://livingincome.org.uk/about/how-it-works

There's also a more in depth pamphlet available here: https://livingincome.org.uk/uploads/files/living-income-pamphlet.pdf

NEF has for a long time called for a Minimum Income Guarantee. Most recently NEF laid out proposals for a MIG to help us through the pandemic: https://neweconomics.org/2020/03/building-a-minimum-income-protection

We've since published why a Living Income is more important now more than ever as we exit the pandemic in the face of a living standards crisis: https://neweconomics.org/2021/06/the-uks-living-standards-crisis

Whilst NEF supports a Minimum Income Gurantee, NEF's work on the Living Income recognises some of it's challenges and therefore supports somewhat of a hybrid approach to combining a MIG with some of the best elements from the UBI tradtion. This in practice would mean having a universal payment element of this system that can underpin the MIG. We have called this a Weekly National Allowance which would replace the Personal Tax Allowance, which you can find out more here: https://neweconomics.org/uploads/files/WeeklyNationalAllowance_NEF.pdf

This, combined with a MIG, can give us the Living Income we are seeking and we'd urge Scottish Ministers and the Working Group to look at both measures together under the Living Income concept.