The latest report in our annual Cost of a Child series finds that the overall cost of a child up to age 18 (including rent and childcare) is £185,000 for lone parents (up 19% since 2012) and £151,000 for couples (up 5.5% since 2012). The gap between lone parents’ actual income and what they need to meet family needs has grown sharply.
The next Scottish Government will be confronted with an imminent rise in child poverty, with a projected 50% increase by 2020 largely driven by UK tax and benefit policies. With this in mind our programme for government sets out a range of measures aimed at prioritising the eradication of child poverty in Scotland and minimising its damaging effects on children, families, services and the country’s economy. Read CPAG in Scotland's Programme for Scottish Government 2016 - 2021 here.
Child Poverty Action Group responded positively to announcements of increased investment in childcare cost support through Universal Credit. But we believe that overall the Budget has done too little to help families and will lock-in austerity cuts for the long-term.
Our Chief Executive Alison Garnham has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking him to increase investment in support for childcare costs through universal credit in his Autumn Statement.
A new report reveals that the government’s welfare benefit uprating legislation is based on bogus claims and is a poverty-producing bill that will further exclude the poorest workers, jobseekers, carers and disabled people from the mainstream of society.
