A balance of sub-national minimum-income schemes in Spain in a new multi-level scenario

This article aims to shed light on the challenges of minimum-income schemes in multi-level models through analysis of the Spanish case. The approval of a nationwide state benefit in 2020, the Ingreso Mínimo Vital (MLI Minimum Living Income), which coexists with regional minimum-income schemes, provides a favourable scenario for this purpose. The article develops a comparative analysis of the regulation of regional minimum-income schemes. After grouping the regional schemes according to their institutional design, this classification is contrasted with information related to elements such as the level of coverage and the adequacy of the different regional programmes. The analysis leads to a diverse panorama where regions with restrictive regulations achieve intermediate levels of coverage while others with more generous regulations achieve low levels of coverage. This highlights the limitations of relying solely on regulatory or institutional analysis to characterise social protection models and underscores the importance of administrative capacity to enforce laws as a critical variable in social policy analysis. The Spanish case shows the need to improve the articulation of national and sub-national policies for adequate implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.