An idea with real potential to fight child poverty

A SOBERING set of statistics came out earlier this month from the respected Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Around one million Scots are estimated as being in poverty, of which nearly 230,000 are children. Given the link between poverty, ill-health and poor educational outcomes, this is a huge waste of potential.

Holyrood does not possess a magic wand to abolish child poverty, but it does have levers that could make a year-on-year dent in the figures.

One option is to use the Parliament’s “top-up” powers to increase Child Benefit. Introduced in the 1970s, Child Benefit is a non-means-tested payment that goes to a parent for every child they have. It is simple and take-up is huge.

Ahead of the SNP Government’s draft Budget this month, a range of experts urged Finance Secretary Derek Mackay to boost Child Benefit by a fiver a week.

However, Mackay rejected it and the Government is instead working on its own income supplement, which should be introduced by 2022.

New figures show that the “give me five” policy would have an immediate impact on families in need. Over half a million would benefit from a £5 a week rise for every child, while the gain for the 274,885 families with more than one youngster would exceed £520.

A counter-argument is that for every £10 spent on the policy, £7 ends up in the pockets of people who are not poor. This is a valid criticism, but it could be addressed by tweaking the income tax allowances so that any gain for higher earners is marginal.

Regardless of politics, this idea is surely worth further study – as it could ensure that tens of thousands of children have a better Christmas in 2019.