With just a couple of weeks until the budget is published, the Scottish Government has a series of political choices to make in a tough economic climate. Of course, there’s never enough money to do everything, but some choices are more impactful than others.
That is why we – and a passionate coalition across Scotland - are urging the Scottish Government to use the powers it has and to deliver on promises to ‘build back better’ post-covid, by putting children living in poverty at the heart of this budget.
The Scottish Government has stated that tackling child poverty is a ‘national mission’ and welcome actions are being taken to improve national policy and local practice. And yet, child poverty levels in Scotland remain persistently high.
Currently sitting at 26% (or 260,000 children) we are a long way from meeting the statutory interim target of 18% by 2034/34, or the ultimate target of only 10% of children living in poverty by 2030.
A lot of families across Scotland are tightening their belts right now. As Christmas approaches and energy, fuel, food prices and housing costs rise, we’re all thinking a little harder about the choices we make and whether we can cut costs.
But for families on low incomes, the reality is more stark and the ‘choices’ near impossible. With the impact of the cut to Universal Credit beginning to bite, the ongoing effects of the pandemic and the ‘cost of living crisis’, many families are being pushed to the brink.
Alice, a single mother-of-two from Dundee told us:
“I am just burning through my gas so badly. I’m at the point where it is ‘get another jumper, get a hot water bottle, get a blanket’, because I can’t afford to keep having the heating on. Sometimes I feel really bad especially because my son is eight months old, and I have him in little dressing gowns and stuff to make sure he’s warm enough in the house.”
And there is widespread recognition that we need to do more. The introduction of the Scottish Child Payment in February 2021 was a landmark use of new social security powers and a decisive action to tackle child poverty. This £10 per week payment to eligible families for each child under 6 years old has been described as a ‘game-changer’ and crucially puts money directly into the pockets of the families who need it most.
The payment was always designed to be rolled out to all those under the age of 16 and, modelled on a take-up rate of 80%, has been projected to lift 30,000 children out of poverty which would be a meaningful and sustainable reduction.
But given the tumultuous external environment, more is required to have impact. As costs of living soar, child poverty levels in every Scottish local authority are rising. We need to do more, quicker to stem the tide and doubling the Scottish Child Payment is the single most impactful action that the Scottish Government can take in this fight against rising child poverty. All political parties in Scotland made the manifesto commitment to double the Scottish Child payment ahead of the Holyrood elections in May 2021 and the SNP government has committed to delivering on this promise “sooner rather than later” .
But what does that mean? It means not soon enough for the parents who right now are making the choice between eating and heating. The Scottish Government has the powers, the mandate and the money and they must not turn away from some of the poorest in our society.
Keira from Edinburgh, a single parent to a one year old said:
“I had no idea of how I was supposed to live and how to provide for my child. I didn’t eat, I had to make a choice between feeding my child and putting money into my gas and electric”.
If we don’t act now and double the Scottish Child Payment, the children growing up in poverty face poor health outcomes, lower educational attainment than their better off peers and poorer mental health. A parent we spoke to this week told us: “If I could ask the government to do one thing, I think that working on the Scottish child payment would help a lot of people, to make it bigger."
No parent in Scotland should be going hungry to feed their child. No parent in Scotland should be turning off the heating in winter to afford a warm coat for their child. But this is the reality for some parents and the ‘choice’ they have.
Which is why the Scottish Government can and must use their choices and put money in the pockets of those parents who need it most. This budget comes at a critical time for delivering on the Scottish Government’s child poverty ambitions, and the opportunity cost of not acting now is just too great.
Share this blog