Child poverty predicted to rise in most of UK except Scotland
Child poverty is on course to increase in the UK by the end of this parliament, with only Scotland bucking the trend, according to analysis by a respected poverty charity.
This is essentially because the Westminster government continues to discriminate against children born into larger families.
The two-child cap means that only the oldest two siblings get help if their parents fall into poverty – that is pushing many families into misery. In contrast, the Scottish government pays the Scottish Child Payment to every child in the family.
In Scotland child poverty rates will have fallen by 2029 under current economic projections, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said. Scotland’s relative success – its child poverty rates are projected to be 10 percentage points lower than England’s by 2029 – is attributed to Holyrood’s more generous child benefits and its plans to scrap the two-child benefit limit.
But child poverty in Scotland is still too high – in part because of the energy profiteering caused by Westminster’s privatisation of Scotland’s energy infrastructure. Poor Scottish families pay more than any in Europe to heat their homes and cook their food.