Scotland is the only UK nation that is reducing child poverty
by Rachel Reeves could use her latest budget to match the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide, after research from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) found that child poverty rates in Scotland have fallen compared to the rest of the UK.
The question is, will she? And will Scotland’s Labour MPs also challenge her to do so?
According to the CPAG, child poverty fell in Scotland, with the three-year average poverty rate falling in Scotland from 24% to 23% – with the latest one-year data showing a fall from 26% to 22%.
Meanwhile in England it has risen from 30% to 31%, from 23% to 24% in Northern Ireland, and from 29% to 31% in Wales
The CPAG states that “the key reason for this divergence is the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment” and that “this shows the impact investment in social security has on child poverty”.
It also warns the Westminster government that child poverty is set to rise even higher in the absence of any poverty-reducing reforms, reaching 4.8 million by the end of this parliament in 2029.
The report by the CPAG was soon followed by another, published by the Changing Realities study of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which concluded that Labour could lift 700,000 children out of poverty if it adopted the SNP policy.
These warnings come after the Westminster government’s own impact assessment revealed that the latest benefit cuts announced by Rachel Reeves will push 50,000 more children into poverty.
The SNP has consistently called for the UK government to match the Scottish Government’s action on child poverty by matching the Scottish Child Payment.
Instead of scapegoating struggling families on benefits for the UK’s ills the Chancellor should be using her spring budget to deliver the real and long-overdue action needed to tackle the increasing levels of child poverty in the rest of the UK.
It is a mark of shame on a Westminster Labour government that child poverty is rising and expected to hit record highs by the end of this parliament.
Westminster Labour government policies are now actively pushing children into poverty and holding Scotland back.
Rachel Reeves could deliver emergency action now by matching the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide. As the Child Poverty Action Group and LSE have revealed it has made a difference by reducing child poverty in Scotland.
As a result of the SNP government’s leadership, Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is expected to fall – it’s time the Westminster Labour government matched this action.