THE Scottish Child Payment will play a vital role in reducing child poverty This, the 10th and newest benefit to be provided through the Scottish Government’s social security agency starts tomorrow and will improve the lives of the youngest in our society and their families.

Almost 60% of children in poverty in Scotland live in a family where a child is under the age of six-years-old. We are tackling child poverty head on by adding £40 every four weeks – double what campaigners originally asked for – to the pockets of low-income families.

The benefit, which does not have a comparable equivalent elsewhere in the UK, was announced in June 2019 as part of our Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan and has been prioritised by the Scottish Government. Its rapid introduction, even during a pandemic, shows that we can use our social security powers to focus on our priorities.

READ MORE: Extra £40 payment for Scottish families to begin in anti-poverty drive

Alongside our Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods, we will provide more than £5200 of financial support for families by the time their first child turns six. For second and subsequent children this will provide an additional £4900.

The payments for under-6s are just the beginning, as we plan to expand the Scottish Child Payment to cover an estimated 466,000 children under the age of 16 by the end of 2022/23 financial year. This is subject to data on qualifying benefits being received from DWP as we cannot proceed without it.