Nicola Sturgeon to Set Out Plan to Combat Child Poverty

SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon will today set out key measures that SNP MPs will prioritise at Westminster in order to combat child poverty in Scotland and across the UK.

Under current coalition plans, one million additional children are expected to grow up in poverty by 2020 across the UK, taking the level of child poverty to 5 million. In Scotland, this would mean an additional 100,000 children growing up in poverty.

The IFS has estimated that Westminster benefit cuts have saved the public purse just £2.5 billion, and according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation the cost to society of such cuts will total £29 billion in the short and long-term impact to children’s life chances.

Commenting, SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon said:

“Years of Westminster austerity have harmed the poorest ten per cent of households harder than anyone else – hitting families with children hard. That is only set to continue with all of the Westminster parties signed up to a further £30 billion of austerity cuts and the Tories planning to slash welfare spending by £12 billion.

“The absolute last people who should be paying the price of austerity cuts are children, yet that is precisely what is happening under the plans of all of the Westminster establishment parties.

“The UK Government’s current plans will see one million additional children across the UK grow up in poverty, 100,000 of whom will be in Scotland.

“That is a damning statistic and one that must be addressed, yet Labour are failing to offer an alternative.

“A strong team of SNP MPs will be a powerful voice for Scotland at Westminster - demanding action to tackle the scourge of child poverty, because no child should have to grow up in poverty in this rich country."