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A coalition of poverty reduction groups has called for all political parties to commit to doubling the value of the new Scottish child benefit if they win the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
Thursday, January 21, 2021, 10.15 a.m.
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The next Scottish government should double the payment requested by a poverty group for new children.
The End Child Poverty Coalition in Scotland called in its “Manifesto to End Child Poverty” launched today to lift an additional 20,000 children out of poverty.
The document raises key issues ahead of the Holyrood elections in May and puts a doubling of the £ 10 weekly payment at the top of the list.
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The new payment is slated to begin next month for low-income families and children under six. However, the Poverty, Children and Women’s group has warned that “it will not go far enough to meet Scotland’s child poverty reduction goals”. They claim that increasing the payment to £ 20 a week could help another 20,000 children.
The coalition also urges all parties to commit to empowering other support for low-income families, including by increasing the value of school clothing grants and getting the best start grants, more investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund, in order to ensure that crisis support is adequate and accessible; ensure “holistic support for the whole family” for those in need, increase financial support for families without recourse to public funds and implement child poverty-directed labor market policies, including measures to eradicate the gender gap Pay gap.
John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, launched the manifesto and said: “Even before Covid-19, almost one in four children in Scotland grew up in poverty. Now the pandemic has dragged families even deeper into poverty, while many more have slipped into poverty for the first time. A rising tide of child poverty now threatens to overwhelm many in our communities.
“That’s why we have put in place a number of measures to help stem this flood by putting much-needed money in the pockets of families struggling to stay afloat. We urge all political parties to commit themselves to the measures we have planned and to use the next Scottish Parliament to alleviate poverty in the lives of Scottish children. “
Anna Ritchie Allan, Executive Director of Close the Gap added, “The existing inequalities women face in the labor market mean they are hardest hit by the job interruption caused by Covid-19. The pandemic has highlighted the link between working poverty among women and child poverty. Women who have already struggled are now under enormous financial pressure as they and their families are pushed into further and deeper poverty.
“The End Child Poverty Coalition Manifesto calls on Scottish political parties to take bold action to reduce child poverty. Close the Gap welcomes the focus on substantive action to eradicate women’s inequality in the labor market, including tackling low pay women and promoting the provision of funded childcare. Ensuring that economic recovery policies prioritize measures to build a labor market for women is a necessary step in addressing the growing child poverty crisis. “
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