THE Scottish Government is being urged to increase Child Payment by £10 to help families on low incomes "survive".

Aberlour Children's Charity has launched its inaugural petition, calling for the weekly payment to be increased from £10 to £22 per child by 2022. 

Before Covid-19, around one in four children in Scotland were living in poverty. As a result of the pandemic and repeated lockdowns, many more families across the country are struggling to make ends meet and risk falling or being pushed deeper, into poverty. 

While low-income families have welcomed the new, £10 per week per child benefit, Aberlour says it will not go far enough in helping to meet Scotland’s child poverty reduction targets.

Glasgow Times:

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The charity argues that by increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per child by 2022, it will enable families to do more than just survive as the increase could lift an additional 20,000 children out of poverty.

Martin Canavan, Head of Policy and Participation, said: “Right now thousands of families in Scotland are living in the grip of poverty and despair and are being forced to choose between feeding, clothing or heating their children.

"This can’t be right. Please sign our petition to ask for the Scottish Child Payment to be doubled and help lift families and children out of poverty”.

Sign the petition HERE.