SNP announce new benefit to tackle child poverty

The SNP Scottish Government has announced it will use new social security powers to introduce a brand new benefit to tackle child poverty

The Scottish Child Payment will be introduced by 2022 for all eligible families with children under 16. The Payment will begin for children under six by early 2021, with the payment set at £10 per week.

This new benefit will provide support for families on low incomes, reduce child poverty and mitigate some of the damaging impact of UK Government austerity and welfare cuts. It will be paid monthly and will be available to all children in eligible families with qualifying benefits including Universal Credit, Jobseekers Allowance and Child Tax Credits. There will be no cap on the number of children in families.

When fully introduced, the payment to around 410,000 eligible children and a substantial investment in families most in need in Scotland.

Gavin Newlands SNP MP said: “The Tory UK Government obsession with austerity has shamefully focussed on slashing the UK social security leaving many in dire circumstances, one only has to look at the shambolic roll out of Universal Credit and the introduction of the abhorrent rape clause as two of the more high profile examples. In stark contrast, the Scottish Government has once again shown the way with the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment which will lift thousands of children in Renfrewshire out of poverty and is just another example of the SNP supporting the most vulnerable in our society.”