New funding for childcare and employability to cut child poverty

Low-income Scottish families will benefit from improved access to learning, advice and employment support with a multi-million pound package of measures. 

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell has set out the next steps of an ambitious plan to help lift parents and families out of poverty, backed by the £50 million Tackling Child Poverty Fund.

In contrast to UK Government austerity and welfare cuts, the Scottish Government invested over £1.4 billion in direct support for households on low incomes last year.

That will be further enhanced with new funding including:

• ·         an additional £4 million for initiatives to enhance family incomes by improving access to work and work progression
• ·         £500,000 for a new Family Learning Scotland Programme to help parents gain new skills through learning and training
• ·         £1 million to build on good practice and help improve the life chances of young parents and their children
• ·         an additional £1.5 million to support social landlords prevent homelessness for low-income families.

Ms Campbell said: “As the only country in the UK with ambitious income-based targets to eradicate child poverty, we are taking bold action, right across Government to support families at every stage of life.

“The new devolved benefits offer support in the early years, from pregnancy through to starting school, and will be followed next year by the transformative new Scottish Child Payment which will put more money in the pockets of families.

“The cost of childcare can be a barrier for parents and carers looking to take up employment, increase their working hours, or study.

“So our commitment to increase childcare support is coupled with enhanced employment support that will tackle inequalities by helping more parents into work.

“Employment must be a reliable route to a better living standard and we will continue to promote the real living wage,  bringing salary increases to low earners.”

A full list of the actions planned and now being delivered is available in the first annual progress report – Tackling child poverty: first year progress report (2018 to 2019)

The new investment outlined above was announced as part of a package of new support unveiled in Programme for Government 2019-20