Meeting of the Parliament 05 February 2025
The motion notes the report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which predicts that child poverty rates in Scotland will decline by 2029 while rates in the rest of the UK are on track to rise. Recent analysis estimates that the Scottish child payment and plans to scrap the two-child benefit limit will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty in 2024-25. That is a major driver of what is a welcome fall. It is therefore a wee bit disappointing that some other parties fail to acknowledge the significant progress that is being made in supporting children in Scotland. Of course, that is just politics.
However, that is not to say that there is not still more to be done, because there is. I thank Save the Children for its briefing on the practical steps that can be taken to ensure that more is done. The briefing makes it clear that, if we are to make a greater impact in addressing child poverty, we must engage with children from an even earlier age. It welcomes
“efforts to increase family incomes like the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment (SCP), Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods”,
and it states:
“Parents tell us these make a big difference in being able to provide essential goods for their young children, as well as providing stimulating toys and experiences that boost development.”
Save the Children also welcomes various funds from the Scottish Government, such as the child poverty practice accelerator fund, which helps local services deliver wraparound family-based support and early learning initiatives such as the bookbug programme. Try learning when your belly is empty, or being interested in books and learning to count when you are being brought up in a cold and damp house.
We should not underestimate another point that is made in the briefing. It states:
“with 1 in 3 families with a baby under one currently living in poverty in Scotland ... more must be done to increase incomes and provide wider access to holistic family support so that all children get the start in life they deserve.”
In that regard, I highlight the success of the baby box that is offered as a welcome gift to all new babies in Scotland. The box provides essential items for the first six months of life. The uptake of the baby box has grown to around 98 per cent, with parents sharing how useful it is in saving them money on necessary items and providing things that they might not have thought of buying themselves.
Those are welcome and successful initiatives, and I hope that the Scottish Government will commit to continuing to build on them in the context of children benefiting from free school meals.
The briefing also makes a number of interesting recommendations, including
“Increasing the Scottish Child Payment ... to £40 ... to relieve the pressures of poverty in households with young children”
and providing
”additional, targeted income through one of the five family benefits to families with a baby under one”.
It also recommends offering parental education, along with emotional and financial support, to reduce stress and empower parents to be the best that they can be. Those recommendations deserve further analysis and research to understand how they can become part of a holistic, overarching approach to addressing child poverty at every stage of a child’s development. I urge the cabinet secretary to consider the recommendations carefully in the future development of the Government’s strategy.
Although we have made significant progress, it is clear that more work remains to be done to ensure that every child in Scotland receives the start in life that they deserve. The Government must continue to empower parents with the support and resources that they need, ensuring that the crucial first months and years are the nurturing foundation that every child requires to ensure that they continue to reach their full potential as they progress though life. I am sure that that is the direction that is being pursued.
16:08