Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022-2026 - annex 6: what works - evidence review

Footnotes

i The means-tested benefit is the qualifying benefit (e.g. Universal Credit, child tax credit), not Best Start Grant or Best Start Foods itself.

ii these figures should be used with caution as some percentages are based on very small
numbers

iii As at October 2021.

iv The policies included in the policy package for 2023/24 are: Scottish Child Payment (£25 per child per week); Best Start Grant; Best Start Foods; Free School Meals; School Clothing Grant; Carer’s Allowance Supplement; Council Tax Reduction, including discount for water and sewerage; and Discretionary Housing Payments (bedroom tax and benefit cap mitigation).

v Assumes that the children are aged 4 and 6, that the adult in question has been unemployed for 6 months, and includes social assistance and housing benefits.

6 Increase each year in line with either inflation, average wage increase, or 2.5% - whichever is highest.

7 The 2019 Act establishes a new two-part definition whereby a household is considered fuel poor if: (a) after housing costs have been deducted, more than 10% (20% for extreme fuel poverty) of their net income is required to pay for their reasonable fuel needs; and (b) after further adjustments are made to deduct childcare costs and any benefits received for a disability or care need, their remaining income is insufficient to maintain an acceptable standard of living, defined as being at least 90% of the UK Minimum Income Standard (MIS).

8 Transport poverty comes from when people don't have access to essential services or work because of a lack of affordable transport options.