The fight against poverty and in favor of social inclusion are undoubtedly on the agenda of public administrations, whether at the state or regional level. The 2008 crisis and the sudden shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 revealed an urgent need to have a robust safety net that can prevent unexpected circumstances – such as unemployment or poverty – that cause a lasting social exclusion for those who suffer from it. The approval of the minimum vital income (IMV) in 2020 goes precisely in that direction: providing that safety net to those who need it. It is undoubtedly a very necessary and relevant benefit, which, in the form of a guaranteed minimum income, provides a minimum level of income to all people or households in a situation of extreme vulnerability in Spain. After three years since its implementation, it is worth reflecting on the capacity of this tool to alleviate this situation of poverty for vulnerable households. In this sense, data from the Independent Fiscal Responsibility Authority (Airef) indicates that around 65 out of every 100 households that meet all the requirements are not receiving the benefit. If there is a population group in a situation of extreme vulnerability in our country is the gypsy population. A study carried out in collaboration between the Secretariado Gitano Foundation and the Iseak Foundation in 2018 indicates that in that year 66 out of every 100 Roma households were in a situation of extreme poverty, a figure that rose to 70% when we focused on households with minors. It is evident, therefore, that a tool like the IMV can be very useful to alleviate the poverty situation of Roma people. The Secretariado Gitano Foundation, which has been working with the Roma population for more than 40 years in order to achieve their social, educational and labor inclusion, wanted to analyze the impact of the implementation of the IMV on Roma people, the barriers that the potentially receiving population says they will find to access the benefit, as well as the actions that can be identified to facilitate its arrival to those households that, due to their income and assets situation, need it. To this end, it has collaborated with the Iseak Foundation. Three fundamental messages can be extracted from the study carried out: firstly, although knowledge about this benefit is widespread among the Roma population (85% of Roma households know of its existence), Of the 52% of households that are entitled to the benefit for meeting all the requirements, only 29% receive it, a fact that breaks with the fairly widespread idea that Gypsies usually live on social benefits. This implies that the low coverage of the benefit is not mainly due to lack of knowledge about its existence. However, when investigating the barriers of the population potentially benefiting from this tool, we found that they face a great lack of knowledge about how to request it, about their right to access it and even the difficulty of fitting the term “unit of coexistence” to the gypsy population. Secondly, when analyzing the impact of this benefit to alleviate extreme poverty among the Roma population, it is found that it manages to remove relatively few households, especially due to its low coverage. However, for those who receive it, the severity or intensity of poverty does decrease. Additionally, in homes with minors, the childhood supplement that accompanies the IMV is very effective in alleviating child poverty. The problem with this supplement is that very few people know of its existence, a phenomenon that also happens with the general population. Thirdly, the study shows that the labor, social and educational activation of the group receiving the IMV is clearly a pending issue, since only 22% receive some type of labor activation, whether training, orientation or intermediation with companies. Something very different happens with those IMV beneficiaries who are in contact with the Secretariado Gitano Foundation, since the proportion of those who receive some type of labor activation doubles. Given these results, some recommendations emerge from the study, most of which can be extended to the whole of the population in Spain, and in some cases, even to other benefits: firstly, to improve the reach of this benefit (and others, such as the child aid supplement, social bonuses, etc.) and that it reaches For practically all households that meet the requirements, it would be highly advisable for the existence of the income tax return to be universalized, that is, for each person over 18 years of age to file their own return. This, together with the information collected in other administrative records, such as Social Security, Public Employment Services and Social Services, would allow the Administration to act as an active agent, contacting households potentially benefiting from the benefit or requesting the minimum complementary information to receive it. Furthermore, it would be necessary to use information on current income and not that of the previous year as is currently being done. Thirdly, in addition to the guarantee of income, the escape from poverty, especially in the case of the Roma population, involves education and employment. The labor activation of potentially activatable IMV recipients is a pending and urgent task, since the objective of this instrument is precisely that those who receive it do so temporarily and emancipate themselves from it by having found a job that allows them not to need of that help. And along with incentives for job placement, the support and educational reinforcement of children from families receiving IMV is essential to breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Sara de la Rica is director of the Iseak Foundation. Sara Giménez is director of the Secretariado Gitano Foundation.