The Cost of a Child in Scotland 2025

CPAG’s annual Cost of a Child report looks at how much it costs families to provide a minimum socially acceptable standard of living for their children. It is calculated using the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) research, carried out by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 

• The cost of raising a child to age 18 is £250,000 for a couple and £290,000 for a lone parent.
• An inadequate social security system means many families, including some working full time, do not have enough income to cover the cost of a minimum standard of living.
• A lone parent with two children working full-time on the minimum wage can only cover 79 per cent of these costs, while a similar couple can only cover 90 per cent. The same families across the rest of the UK can cover 69 percent, and 82 percent, respectively.
• An out-of-work lone parent with two children only has enough income to cover 55 per cent of costs (46 per cent for a couple). The same families across the rest of the UK can cover 44 percent, and 37 percent, respectively.
• Scotland specific policies (most notably the Scottish child payment) help families but still many families are struggling to meet their minimum costs.