John Dickie's blog calls on the First Minister must use her Programme for Government to continue to do the right thing, and prioritise protecting children from the immediate cost of living crisis, at the same time as safeguarding the longer term progress needed to meet Scotland’s statutory child poverty targets.
Over 120 charities, faith groups, trade unions and civic organisations sign open letter urging First Minister to plug “gap in cash support.” “Parents going without food to feed their children, feeling ashamed at the basics their children are going without, and dreading the coming winter bills.”
The Front-loaded Child Benefit Bill is a Private Members’ Bill introduced by Lord Farmer (Conservative). It aims to allow recipients of child benefit to receive, if they wish, a higher rate of child benefit when a child is younger, in exchange for a lower rate when the child is older. This would be an alternative to the current system whereby a flat rate is paid throughout childhood. The second reading will take place on Friday 8 July.
My name is Brian, I am a single parent to one daughter, we live in the south of England and I claim disability benefits. The impact on children due to the rising cost of living is heartbreaking and will have a long term impact on them. Being a single parent with a teenage daughter is tough enough but now we are having to make cutbacks to the bare minimum. My daughter now has to live in a cold, dark home as I am unable to afford the rising cost of gas and electricity, which is having a real impact on her studies during exam times. My daughter is 16 years old and currently studying hard for her GCSEs and looking forward to continuing studies for her A levels after the summer.
It’s great to see so many families already benefiting from the Scottish child payment. We know that this extra cash support is really making a difference to families.
With 38 bills but no direct help with spiralling costs, this speech was a far cry from what struggling families needed to hear today. Government offered no short term comfort for parents struggling to feed their kids in the face of rocketing prices, and no long term vision for ending child poverty.
Our Secure Futures for Children and Families project asks the question: What does a social security system that provides a secure future for children and families look like? Through a programme of roundtable events with different audiences, four citizens’ juries, and a series of written contributions, we have explored this question in detail. This report brings together what we learned from these activities.