>The devolution of some social security powers has meant that Scotland has been able to forge a different path, introducing potentially transformative policy reforms which mean families with children living north of the border face a more hopeful future than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.
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>Among new policies in Scotland designed to offer more secure financial support to those on a low income, the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) stands out as the most significant change.
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>This means that a family on a low income with three children under 16 could receive a payment of £300 a month, raising their annual income to almost £4000 more than an equivalent family in England.
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>Clearly, the SCP marks a substantial departure from the austerity which has dominated the social security landscape since 2010. It forms a central part of a more progressive use of tax-benefit powers in Scotland: the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the bottom third of Scottish households with children will, on average, be around £2,000/year better off than similar English households. This is predicted to have a monumental impact on reducing child poverty rates: **Oxford University’s Danny Dorling has predicted that the increased and extended payments will transform Scotland from being one of the most unequal places to live in Europe to being one of the most equal.**
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>Let’s make sure we take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the difference such policies can make – ensuring that the policy lessons of the Scottish Child Payment can help improve the lives and outcomes of children throughout the UK and beyond. All eyes may be on the Chancellor this week, but we must not lose sight of the effects of policy interventions happening hundreds of miles from Westminster.
The success of the Scottish Child Payment is always crazy to read.
Is it: “Give a shit about addressing poverty and don’t deliberately inflict poverty on millions of people out of spite and a desire to asset strip all publicly owned state apparatus”?
2 comments
>The devolution of some social security powers has meant that Scotland has been able to forge a different path, introducing potentially transformative policy reforms which mean families with children living north of the border face a more hopeful future than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.
~
>Among new policies in Scotland designed to offer more secure financial support to those on a low income, the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) stands out as the most significant change.
~
>This means that a family on a low income with three children under 16 could receive a payment of £300 a month, raising their annual income to almost £4000 more than an equivalent family in England.
~
>Clearly, the SCP marks a substantial departure from the austerity which has dominated the social security landscape since 2010. It forms a central part of a more progressive use of tax-benefit powers in Scotland: the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the bottom third of Scottish households with children will, on average, be around £2,000/year better off than similar English households. This is predicted to have a monumental impact on reducing child poverty rates: **Oxford University’s Danny Dorling has predicted that the increased and extended payments will transform Scotland from being one of the most unequal places to live in Europe to being one of the most equal.**
~
>Let’s make sure we take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the difference such policies can make – ensuring that the policy lessons of the Scottish Child Payment can help improve the lives and outcomes of children throughout the UK and beyond. All eyes may be on the Chancellor this week, but we must not lose sight of the effects of policy interventions happening hundreds of miles from Westminster.
The success of the Scottish Child Payment is always crazy to read.
Is it: “Give a shit about addressing poverty and don’t deliberately inflict poverty on millions of people out of spite and a desire to asset strip all publicly owned state apparatus”?