New package of support for parents

12 Mar 2026 03:11 PM

New support for parents to increase their incomes and reduce the burden of everyday costs, on top of existing work, will help to keep approximately 100,000 children out of poverty in 2026-27.

More than £111 million is being committed to updated plans to eradicate child poverty through Bringing Hope, Building Futures. 

It builds on existing Scottish Government action which has already reduced relative child poverty rates in Scotland to the lowest levels in almost a decade – with rates nine percentage points lower than the UK in 2023-24. 

Action includes: 

• Investing £61.5 million in the Tackling Child Poverty Fund to strengthen and introduce measures, including to expand childcare support for low-income parents, help employers offer progression opportunities, grow the Family Nurse Partnership to help up to 500 more young parents during pregnancy and into parenthood, and to expand Bookbug 
• A £20 million Whole Family Support Third Sector Delivery Fund for charities to help families in their communities  
• £30 million to boost incomes through work, create more training opportunities for parents by investing in the college sector, and to reduce transport costs for low-income parents travelling to work 
• £9 million to mitigate the UK Government’s freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates, which caps the amount of housing support a household can receive, to support up to 18,000 families

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: 

“Eradicating child poverty is the Scottish Government’s driving mission – no child should live in poverty in a country as rich as Scotland.

“This plan builds on a great deal of progress and sets out a broad range of actions to help parents – by reducing the cost of living, helping increase incomes received through work and social security, and helping their children to thrive.  

“I am proud that Scotland is the only part of the UK to have statutory targets to drive down child poverty, which were unanimously agreed by parliament. Our plan focusses on concrete action this year while providing the foundations on which any incoming administration can build and reflect its own policy priorities, working with industry, local authorities and charities, to give children in Scotland a future free from the scourge of poverty.” 

Background 

Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-31: Bringing Hope, Building Futures is the Scottish Government’s final statutory Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan delivered under the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017.  

Annex 1 of Bringing Hope, Building Futures includes:  

• a breakdown of how all resource for the Two Child Limit Payment has been reallocated to efforts to eradicate child poverty 
• a list of all new and strengthened policies 
• details of the statutory child poverty targets under the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 
• a response to each of the Poverty and Inequality Commission’s recommendations 

Additional child poverty measures outlined in the Scottish Budget 2026-27 and Scottish Spending Review include: 

• Continued investment in Five Family Payments, which, backed by £524 million in 2026-27, support families with everyday essentials for their children, including food and clothing  
• Raising the Scottish Child Payment for eligible parents of children under one to £40 per week during 2027-28 
• £100 million over three years for a national breakfast club offer 
• A record £926 million investment in affordable housing in 2026-27 

In 2023-24, rates of relative child poverty in Scotland fell to their lowest level in almost a decade and were 9 percentage points lower than in the UK: Child poverty summary 

Cumulative Impact Assessment

Applications to the Whole Family Support Third Sector Delivery Fund can now be made by charities across the country that meet the relevant criteria. 

The £9 million of funding for Local Housing Allowance rates freeze mitigation includes £5 million from the Tackling Child Poverty Fund and £4 million from the Housing Support budget.