ANTI-POVERTY PAYMENT COULD BENEFIT 4500 CHILDREN IN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY
The Scottish Child Payment will be worth £10 per child for low-income families by the end of 2022, with introduction for under-6s starting by early 2021. Latest figures from the Scottish Fiscal Commission estimate that 194,000 children aged under six in Scotland will be eligible for the new Scottish Child Payment – with 4500 children and families estimated to benefit in D&G.
The brand new benefit was described as a “game changer” and a “lifeline” by anti-poverty campaigners and is central to the SNP’s ambitions to tackle child poverty.
Commenting, SNP MSP Joan McAlpine said:
“The Scottish Child Payment is an ambitious and ground-breaking new benefit which will directly tackle child poverty across the country.
“This support is needed more than ever, and when this additional £10 per week per child becomes available in February, it will be a lifeline for many such families in Dumfries and Galloway.
“It will help reduce financial pressures and demonstrates the potential of social security to make a positive difference and reflect our society’s shared values of compassion and fairness.
“Tory cuts are driving too many families in Dumfries and Galloway into poverty – but the SNP is determined to use every power at our disposal to help families make ends meet.”
The below calculations use the NRS mid-year population stats <eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nrscotland.gov.uk%2Fstatistics-and-data%2Fstatistics%2Fstatistics-by-theme%2Fpopulation%2Fpopulation-estimates%2Fmid-year-population-es…> by age and local authority <eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nrscotland.gov.uk%2Ffiles%2Fstatistics%2Fpopulation-estimates%2Fmid-19%2Fmid-year-pop-est-19-data.xlsx&data=02%7C01%7CMurray.Foote%40pa…> Calculations are based on the latest 194,000 figure and are estimates of the local population.
Council areas
Express as
Aberdeen City
over 8,000
Aberdeenshire
over 10,000
Angus
nearly 4,000
Argyll and Bute
over 2,500
City of Edinburgh
over 17,500
Clackmannanshire
over 1,800
Dumfries and Galloway
over 4,500
Dundee City
over 5,200
East Ayrshire
over 4,400
East Dunbartonshire
about 4,000
East Lothian
over 4,000
East Renfrewshire
over 3,700
Falkirk
about 5,700
Fife
around 13,300
Glasgow City
over 23,200
Highland
around 7,800
Inverclyde
over 2,500
Midlothian
around 4,100
Moray
over 3,100
Na h-Eileanan Siar
over 800
North Ayrshire
over 4,400
North Lanarkshire
nearly 13,000
Orkney Islands
over 700
Perth and Kinross
over 4,800
Renfrewshire
over 6,300
Scottish Borders
over 3,800
Shetland Islands
over 800
South Ayrshire
over 3,500
South Lanarkshire
over 11,800
Stirling
over 3,000
West Dunbartonshire
over 3,200
West Lothian
over 7,200
In June 2019, the Scottish Government had forecast that 170,000 children aged under six will be eligible for the Scottish Child Payment. This figure was presented at the first policy position paper for the Scottish Child Payment and has been used since then to respond to press enquiries, and most recently in the PfG. Estimates were most recently shared with media in January 2020 – www.gov.scot/news/170-000-children-eligible-for-new-benefit/ <eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.scot%2Fnews%2F170-000-children-eligible-for-new-benefit%2F&data=02%7C01%7CMurray.Foote%40parliament.scot%7Cb1c48c433a0f417f2a7b08d8…>
On Tuesday 8 September the Scottish Fiscal Commission will publish their updated forecasts, accounting for the Covid impacts. These forecasts estimate that 194,000 children under 6 will be eligible for the Scottish Child Payment in 2020-21.
Once fully rolled-out to under 16 year olds, in 2022-23, thee Scottish Fiscal Commission estimate that there could be 499,000 eligible children. We remain committed to rolling out the benefit to families with children under 16.
The headline figures used in the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s media release refer to the forecast caseload of recipient children as opposed to eligible children.
