New Child Welfare Payment for Low Income Families

South of Scotland SNP MSP Joan McAlpine has welcomed news that the Scottish Government will use new powers over social security to introduce a payment to help lift children out of poverty.

 

The Scottish Child Payment will give eligible families £10 a week for every child under 16 by the end of 2022. For a family with two children under the age of 16 this is an additional £1,000 a year.  It makes Scotland the only part of the UK to introduce an extra payment for the children of low income families..

 

The payment will be introduced early for all families with children under six. 170,000 children will benefit from early introduction which will start in early 2021. This is a more than a year earlier than the timescale outlined in the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

 

Scotland is the only UK country to have set statutory income targets to end child poverty in the Child Poverty Act, with the Scottish Government also having brought forward its Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. The Scottish Government has already spent £527 million across all government policies to support low income families with children.

 

Joan McAlpine MSP said:

“This new benefit shows that the SNP committed to helping people in Scotland, and to tackling the alarming levels of child poverty. The SCP will go some way towards mitigating against continuing benefit cuts from the UK Government. If we didn’t have those UK Government cuts pushing families into poverty, the Scottish Child Payment could do much more and have more reach.

 

“UK benefit cuts will be an annual £3.7 billion in Scotland by next year. We cannot stand by and let that happen. We need more powers to ensure we are not fighting poverty with one hand tied behind our back. Where the Scottish Government do have powers, we will use them to do things differently.

 

“Already the SNP Government are making a real difference to thousands of families across Scotland with the new Best Start Grant, increases to the value of the School Clothing Grant, nearly doubling funded provision of Early Learning and Childcare, and delivery of 50,000 warm and affordable homes.”

 

Notes:

  • The SCP will be a monthly payment administered by Social Security Scotland alongside the existing programme of devolved social security benefits. There will be no cap on the number of children in eligible families. Of all children in poverty, almost 60% live in a family where a child is under six. The early years in a child’s life are key for long-term outcomes.