Game-changing Benefit Vital Amid Tory Cost-of-Living Crisis
New figures show that a total of £3,211,140 has been paid out in Scottish Child Payments to families in Angus since the devolved benefit was introduced.
Now available to all eligible children under 16, 4,325 across Angus have benefitted since February 2021 according to the Scottish Government statistics.
The full roll-out has been described as a “watershed moment” in tackling poverty in Scotland. The Scottish Child Payment is unique to Scotland and is projected to lift around 50,000 children out of poverty in 2023/24.
It has been hailed as a “game-changer” by anti-poverty charities and is backed up with £442 million of funding from the Scottish Government in the next financial year.
– Graeme
These figures show a strong uptake of this critical payment, and I am delighted to see so many children in Angus being supported by it.
The Scottish Child Payment – now £25 a week, a 150% increase since its introduction – is the most ambitious anti-poverty measure anywhere in the UK.
The Scottish Government is resolutely committed to tackling child poverty, and this payment is a momentous step on that path.
Devolved efforts to fight poverty remain seriously curtailed and undermined by Tory policies at the UK level, however – only with the full powers of independence will be able to fully address root causes.