Scotland's Social Justice Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, has urged the UK Government to abolish the two-child limit and benefit cap in the upcoming Budget to address child poverty. She argues these policies belong to the past and that no child in a wealthy nation like the UK should live in poverty, stating the social security system should guarantee a basic standard of living.
Somerville highlighted that the Scottish Government plans to mitigate the two-child limit from March next year, estimating this will prevent 20,000 children from experiencing relative poverty. She attributed lower child poverty rates in Scotland to decisive actions like introducing the Scottish Child Payment and investing in devolved social security, stating these measures have led to relative child poverty rates in Scotland being at their lowest in nearly a decade. She called for the Chancellor to follow Scotland's example by scrapping the caps, matching the Scottish Child Payment, and introducing an essentials guarantee to ensure Universal Credit covers essential living costs.
Data from March revealed 4.5 million children were in poverty in the UK in the year to April 2024, an increase of 100,000 from the previous year. A UK Government spokesperson stated their Child Poverty Taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy to address the root causes of child poverty and highlighted their significant settlement for Scotland, which funds key areas like housing, education, and childcare, as levers to tackle the issue.
