School governors, head teachers, PTAs and others working in schools have written to the Chancellor urging him to increase child benefit and expand free school meals eligibility to reduce the impact of poverty and hardship on children and on schools. The open letter says schools increasingly see children finding it harder to learn because of inadequate family incomes.
Over 70 charities, unions, faith groups, health professionals and social policy experts have joined forces today to call on the SNP leadership contenders to keep child poverty a top government priority if they become First Minister.
A new report 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.
John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, responds to the roll out of the Scottish child payment to under 16s and the increase of its value to £25 per week.
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.”
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.