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The benefit of the extra money in the new Scottish Child Payment will be wiped out if the UK government goes ahead with the universal credit increase of £ 20 per week, it is claimed.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said the cut would leave jobless families with children receiving barely half the income the public considers necessary to achieve an acceptable standard of living.
The JRF Minimum Income Standard report states that a working age couple with two young children needs £ 482 per week and a single parent with two children needs £ 387 per week.
READ MORE:Parents under 25 are paid less in universal credit than before – here’s why?
However, he said the impending cut in universal credit would reduce the value of unemployment benefits to their lowest levels on record compared to what the public thinks is acceptable income. If implemented, it would reduce the value of this aid to 55% of the MIS for a couple with two children aged 3 and 7 and to only 33% of the MIS for a single person of working age without children.
He also said: “Families in Scotland are also starting to benefit from the Scottish Child Payment, with low-income parents of children under 6 already benefiting from this payment.
‘Full roll-out for all children under 16 is slated for late 2022, and the Scottish government pledged in the election to double it to £ 20 per week per child, but with no clear timetable for the setting. implemented. The impact of this doubling will however be canceled for most families if universal credit is removed by the British government. ”
READ MORE: MP Says Jobcentre Cull Was ‘Bad’ As Unemployment Rises As DWP Seeks To Reopen Sites
Chris Birt, Deputy Director for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “We urgently need to restore public confidence by investing in adequate social security support for families in Scotland. It is not too late for the UK government to do the right thing and maintain the £ 20 a week increase in universal credit and prevent millions of families from being seriously unable to meet their needs.
“If this reduction in universal credit continues in October, all the promised doubling of the Scottish Child Payment will reverse the effects of this damaging reduction. In the face of this financial risk to low income families, it is essential that the Scottish government double this payment as soon as possible to help us meet our child poverty goals. ”
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