Our social security system, like our NHS, should be there for us all, especially those who need it most. It needs updating, so it works in today’s world. By the time it is fully rolled out, half of all children in the UK will live in a household claiming universal credit (UC). With some financial investment and operational changes, UC can be the safety net that families need.
A change is coming to child benefit. This Saturday, more families will become eligible as the earnings threshold at which you start losing child benefit increases. The government has finally recognised that ‘the way we treat child benefit in the tax system is confusing and unfair’ and proposed two changes to try to simplify it. It’s ironic that this confusion and unfairness was introduced by the government in the first place.
Racial inequalities in child poverty are particularly stark, with over half of children from Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds likely to grow up in poverty. Economic structures that reinforce gender inequality and entrench systemic racism mean that certain groups, including women, children and Black and minority ethnic families are much more likely to be living in poverty.
As we find out who Scotland’s new First Minister will be. What will this mean for action to end child poverty? Whatever people’s views of her wider legacy there should be no doubt Nicola Sturgeon has made huge progress putting in place the building blocks needed to end the scourge of child poverty in Scotland.
What impact is the cost of living crisis having on families' abilities to keep warm this winter? Parents and carers on a low income who are part of Changing Realities have shared their experiences.
A report commissioned by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University has found a widening gap between the cost of raising a child in Scotland and actual family incomes, despite the significant impact of Scottish government policies and lower childcare costs.
It’s a relief that benefits and the benefit cap will rise with inflation. But this is only the fourth time benefits have risen by inflation in the last ten years and as a result of austerity - that today the chancellor praised - there are almost 4 million kids living in poverty in the UK. Today’s package will not stop the ice from cracking under struggling families.
Families in 2022 are facing the greatest threat to their living standards in living memory. Much has been written about these pressures, but to put them into context, we need to understand what has been happening to children’s and families’ costs in recent years. The Cost of a Child reports have been produced annually for a decade, and this 2022 edition presents the latest evidence of what families need as a minimum, and how this compares to the actual incomes of low-income families.
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.