Take-up rates of Scottish benefits: November 2024

Analysis of Take-Up Rate Estimates

Overview

All the figures presented in this publication are estimates and there is more uncertainty for benefits with lower numbers of recipients as there is a higher degree of uncertainty within the eligibility calculations. Therefore fluctuations in estimated take-up rates year to year should be expected.

Benefit take up rates are likely to be influenced by levels of awareness of the benefit, whether the benefit is a regular or one-off payment, the value of the benefit, and the characteristics of recipients (e.g. age profile etc.).

The estimated take-up rates for Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods – the ‘Five Family Payments’ – are generally higher than the other Scottish benefits.

There are a number of possible reasons for this. For example, eligible families can make a combined application for all of the five family payments resulting in a simplified process. There are also more opportunities to reach and inform eligible families about the Five Family Payments through the public services they already access as part of supporting their children to grow, learn and develop. This helps to spread awareness through word of mouth, complementing the wider marketing efforts of Social Security Scotland.

Scottish Child Payment

Results

The estimated take-up rate of Scottish Child Payment for all children aged under 16 in 2023-24 is 89%. This is the first time a full financial year take-up rate estimate can be provided for all children aged under 16 since eligibility was extended to include children aged 6 to under 16 in November 2022. Last year’s publication included a March 2023 snapshot take-up rate estimate for all children aged under 16 of 83%. Analysis of quarterly Scottish Child Payment take-up rates throughout 2023-24, for June, September, December and March, show estimated take-up rates for all children aged under 16 steadily increasing over that time.

The estimated take-up rate of Scottish Child Payment for children aged under 6 in 2023-24 is 97%. This is a marginal increase from last year’s estimate of 95% and indicates the vast majority of children aged under 6 in families eligible for Scottish Child Payment go on to receive the payment.

The estimated take-up rate of Scottish Child Payment for children aged 6 to under 16 in 2023-24 is 85%. This is the first time a full financial year take-up rate estimate can be provided for children aged 6 to under 16 since eligibility was extended to include them in November 2022. Last year’s publication included a March 2023 snapshot take-up rate estimate for children aged 6 to under 16 of 77%. Analysis of quarterly Scottish Child Payment take-up rates throughout 2023-24, for June, September, December and March, show estimated take-up rates for children aged 6 to under 16 steadily increasing over that time

Overall, these figures reflect lower take-up rates for older children than younger children, however, they are steadily increasing over time and are expected to continue to do so, as awareness of the eligibility extension increases, as observed with take-up rates for younger children. It may be that younger children continue to have higher take-up rates than older children due to a number of reasons, including associated education and health settings having more involvement in benefit awareness than for older children. However, the Scottish Fiscal Commission expects gradual convergence of these take-up rates over time.

This publication includes estimated take-up rates for Scottish Child Payment at the local authority level for the second time. These estimates range from 84% to 94%

Best Start Grant

Results

The estimated take-up rate for Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment in 2022-23 is 87%. This is an increase on last year’s estimate of 83% for 2021-22. Given that applications can be made between a 9 month window, 2022-23 is the latest full year an estimate can be produced for, to ensure all clients counted as eligible have been given their full window to apply. The number of payments made for clients eligible in that time declined slightly compared with the year before, but there was an even larger decline in the estimated number of clients eligible for the payment which results in a higher take-up rate than last year. Next year’s publication will cover 2023-24.

The estimated take-up rate for Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment in 2021-22 is 87%, a substantial increase from last year’s estimate of 80% for 2020-21. Automation of payments to clients already receiving Scottish Child Payment began in November 2022, which has contributed to this increase. Due to the 18 month application window for Early Learning Payment, 2021-22 is the latest full year an estimate can be produced for. Next year’s publication will cover 2022-23.

The estimated take-up rate for Best Start Grant School Age Payment in 2023-24 is 97%, the same as last year’s estimate of 97% for 2022-23. For 2023-24, both the estimated number of children eligible for the payment and the number in receipt, were very similar to the year before.

Best Start Foods

Results

The estimated take-up rate for Best Start Foods for 2023-24 is 84%. This is a substantial decrease from the previous year’s estimate of 92%. Although between last year and this year, the number of people eligible for Best Start Foods is estimated to be fairly stable, the total number of payments made to clients has decreased by around 8% and the decline in the estimated take-up rate appears to be driven by a fall in application numbers.

As of February 2024, the income limit which applied to Best Start Foods eligibility has been removed, this effect has been excluded from this year’s analysis as it applied for around 1 month only, however, for next year’s estimate of Best Start Foods take-up for 2024-25, the income threshold removal will apply for the entire financial year and this will increase the number of people eligible to receive Best Start Foods.

Young Carer Grant

Results

The estimated take-up rate for Young Carer Grant in 2023-24 is 87%, a substantial increase from last year’s estimate of 75% for 2022-23 and a year on year increase in estimated take-up rates since 2020-21.

Successful applications to Young Carer Grant increased by around 50% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 while the estimated number of people eligible increased by around 30%.

It should be noted there is a particular difficulty in accurately estimating the size of the eligible population for Young Carer Grant. This is due to the small size of the eligible population and uncertainty of survey data used to analyse caring prevalence.

Job Start Payment

Results

The estimated take-up rate for Job Start Payment in 2023-24 is 21%, an increase on last year’s estimate of 15% for 2022-23. Despite this increase, Job Start Payment still has the lowest take-up rate of any Scottish benefit.

According to published statistics, there were 775 authorised applications for Job Start Payment in 2023-24 from 1905 total applications. This demonstrates a large number of people eligible for the payment are not applying for it and a large number of people who do apply are deemed not eligible.

Funeral Support Payment

Results

The estimated take-up rate for Funeral Support Payment in 2023-24 is 67%, an increase from last year’s estimate of 61% for 2022-23.

While the number of people estimated to be eligible for Funeral Support Payment in 2023-24 was lower than the year before, a higher number of payments were made.

There is a higher degree of uncertainty in the estimate of eligibility for Funeral Support Payment than other benefits because of the need to identify the likelihood of the person responsible for the funeral being eligible. For that reason it is reasonable to expect variation in take-up rates year to year. Another potential reason why take-up of Funeral Support Payment is lower than other benefits is that people may make provision to cover funeral costs themselves, for example with money left in the deceased person's estate, and therefore choose not to claim the benefit. Or some people may in fact be ineligible due to the level of funds in the estate but are still included in the eligible population when calculating estimated take-up.

Methodological changes to estimating the take-up rates for Funeral Support Payment were introduced for this year’s publication which we believe has improved the robustness of this estimate.