4525 CHILDREN IN WEST LOTHIAN BENEFITTING FROM ‘GAME CHANGING’ SCOTTISH CHILD PAYMENT

4525 CHILDREN IN WEST LOTHIAN BENEFITTING FROM ‘GAME CHANGING’ SCOTTISH CHILD PAYMENT

Angela Constance MSP has welcomed statistics out today which show that approximately 4525 children in West Lothian are in receipt of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Child Payment, set to double to £20 per child per week in April.

The payment was introduced in 2021 to support low-income families with children aged under six by providing regular, additional financial support for families already in receipt of qualifying benefits to assist with the costs of caring for a child.

As of 31 December 2021, it is estimated that 104,000 children across Scotland were in receipt of Scottish Child Payment – equating to £45.2 million worth of payments by the Scottish Government – and that is expected to rise to over 400,000 eligible children by the end 2022 which is when the benefit will be extended to children under the age of 16.

Commenting Ms Constance said:

“I am delighted that 4525 children across West Lothian  are benefitting from the Scottish Child Payment which will double in just a month’s time.

“Come April, this means that these children and families in West Lothian receive £20 per child per week - four times the amount originally demanded by campaigners and illustrating just how focussed the Scottish Government is on meeting Scotland’s Child Poverty targets.

ENDS

NOTES

Scottish Child Payment: high level statistics to 31 December 2021

Table 4: Applications for Scottish Child Payment by local authority (from above statistics):

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