Question reference: S4W-12335
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 17 January 2013
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Current status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 January 2013
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimates it has made of the number of extra children in Scotland who will be deemed to be in poverty as a result of the provisions in the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill.
Answer
The Department of Work and Pensions are estimating that the uprating measures in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 will result in around an extra 200,000 children being in relative income poverty compared to uprating benefits by CPI. Based on Scotland’s current share of children in poverty, this will result in an estimated 15,000 children being pushed into poverty as a result of the 1% uprating of working-age benefits.