Emerging evidence from a research project bringing together economists and social policy academics from the Universities of York, Glasgow and CASE has found “statistically significant reductions in both child material deprivation and food insecurity relative to England, after the introduction of the SCP (Scottish child payment).”

By comparing trends north and south of the border the researchers find that the effects of the Scottish child payment (SCP) are “considerable in size” and “that both material deprivation and food insecurity would have been between 8 and 9 percentage points higher in Scotland without the SCP.” This equates to over 70,000 fewer Scottish children in either material deprivation or food insecurity than would have been the case without the payments.

The findings are based on analysis of the DWP’s UK-wide Family Resources Survey. Alongside interviews with low-income families in Scotland and in England they offer the first comparative study across UK nations of the impact that the unique Scottish child payment is having. The payment is already widely credited with lifting at least 40,000 children out of poverty at a time when child poverty across the UK continued to rise.

Professor Kitty Stewart, Department of Social Policy and Associate Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at LSE was part of the project team. She said: “Our results show that things are easier for Scottish families relative to English families as a result of the SCP. But wider pressures mean material deprivation is still rising both north and south of the border - just less quickly in Scotland. To make a bigger difference, the Scottish Government should build on its investment so far and increase the value of the payment.”

Read more on the LSE News pages. 

Access both papers below:

CASE paper 238:  Investing in Children: Early findings on the difference the Scottish Child Payment makes to child well-being

CASE paper 239:  Does The Scottish Child Payment Weaken Work Incentives?