FRESH CALL FOR CHILD BENEFIT TOP UP AS CHILD POVERTY INCREASES BY 70,000 IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS

September 2, 2017 by martinrooney2014 Leave a comment

The SNP government should top up child benefit as a priority, Labour said, as new figures show 70,000 more children are living in poverty now than there were five years ago.

In 2011/12, 190,000 children were judged to be living in poverty after housing costs. In the last year figures were available that had increased to 260,000.

Labour said that Holyrood’s new powers over social security should be used to top up Child Benefit, a move that the Child Poverty Action Group estimates would lift 30,000 children out of poverty in Scotland.

It would benefit over half a million families across Scotland and has strong support in opinion polls and across civic Scotland.

This week Labour’s summer campaign, For The Many, will focus on what a radical Scottish Government could do if it were willing to use the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said:

“Scotland should be the best place in the world to live, work, grow up and grow old in – and that starts with a fairer country.

“Over a quarter of a million children in Scotland living in poverty is a national scandal that should shame each and every one of us and should shock the SNP government into action.

“The SNP government should use the powers over social security to top up child benefit by £240 by 2020.

“That’s a move that would help over half a million families across Scotland, and lift 30,000 children out of poverty.

“These are the kind of positive, anti-austerity policies Scottish Labour will continue to push for in Holyrood. SNP MSPs should work with Labour and deliver a Scotland that works for the many.”

 

 

NOTES 

A previous poll has shown strong support for Labour’s Child Benefit top up – http://www.povertyalliance.org/article/child_benefit_top_up

 

Relative poverty after housing costs
	Scotland
2011/12	190000
2012/13	220000
2013/14	220000
2014/15	220000
2015/16	260000

 

Source: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/03/2213/downloads
Table A1

 

565,850 families in Scotland are in receipt of child benefit.

 

Source – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics?keywords=&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=hm-revenue-customs&from_date=&to_date=