We all want our babies and youngest children to thrive, but a combination of the high costs of having a baby, low and insufficient maternity pay and social security means that too many families with a baby are struggling to get by. Devastating evidence of this is that 1 in 3 families with a baby under one in Scotland are in poverty - much higher than the national average. We don’t have to accept this.
Alongside a decent social security system, so families have enough money to cover the essentials, Whole Family Support plays a critical role in preventing and reducing child poverty in the long-term, while providing the support families who are experiencing poverty need in the here and now.
A baby’s environment and experiences from conception to age two form the building blocks for a child’s wellbeing, health and learning outcomes. We need to get today’s decisions right to shape a better future for our country.
Being able to access good quality whole family support in communities can be a lifeline for families and help parents give their babies the kind of start in life they want to.
Whole Family Support, especially from pregnancy to a baby’s second birthday, can be life changing for new parents. It plays a critical role in the jigsaw to ensure no child is held back by poverty. As one mother from North Lanarkshire told us
“[The support at] Home-Start has been a life-changing experience for me.”
All parents need support at times – it’s especially important that this help is available early in a child’s life as families adjust to parenthood and to the practical and financial changes that having a baby brings. This support might be financial help to manage the high costs of having a baby or ensure families claim all the benefits they are entitled to, emotional support to help with the demands of parenthood, including peer support, parenting tips and support, or practical help with things like accessing childcare and employment and housing. It can also help families access more specialist services if they need them. Families should be able to access this range of support in trusted places near them, in a ‘one stop shop’.
However, currently, not every family who would benefit from this support can access it when and where they need it.
Our new briefing, Supporting Families for better Childhoods: The role of Whole Family Support in tackling child poverty in the early years sets out why we need to ensure that Early Help Whole Family Support needs to be available in all communities across Scotland.
What we need is for all political parties in Scotland to use their manifestos to commit to increasing funding for family support services for babies, children and families, including sustainable multi-year funding for community-based third sector family support providers. A duty on local authorities to provide such early help family support services to families who are at risk of poverty would ensure that access is no longer a postcode lottery and recognise that family support services are a key lever to shift the dial on child poverty.
Life is complicated. A lot of us face issues that don’t fit neatly into one service area or one ‘box’. This is why good community-based family support that builds relationships of trust and looks at the whole picture of a family’s circumstances can make such a difference:
“I have a problem to share what I’m feeling because I’m scared. I’m scared my child will be taken from me. I was hiding, I was wearing a mask. She [Home Start volunteer] listens to me more and she understands me. I slowly build my confidence. There is someone I can trust.” (Glasgow mother from a minority ethnic background)
The next Scottish Government must commit to a ‘Baby Guarantee’ that makes sure that no baby is held back by poverty. The election is a huge opportunity to make sure every baby has an equal chance to thrive. Politicians must seize it.
