It must be backed by must be followed by practical, life-changing reforms says Aberlour chief
Only urgent and impactful action can ease child poverty in Scotland as more families are driven to the brink of crisis, according to a leading charity.
Justina Murray, the chief executive of Aberlour Children’s Charity, urged the chancellor to press ahead with plans to scrap the two-child benefit cap in the UK budget this Wednesday and launch a new wave of practical support and far-sighted reform.
Murray joined Aberlour last month and since then has been visiting the charity’s family support services across Scotland, where frontline workers warned more families are being trapped in poverty for longer.
She said: “It has been hugely encouraging to see so much effort and expertise across all of our services supporting families, but concerning to see how much more is needed.
“Our teams work with families every day and are seeing poverty becoming even more entrenched. To raise families out of poverty for good needs more action and more urgency.
“That demands more than good intentions and passionate speeches. It demands practical action shaped by frontline expertise, and backed by resource and ambition.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has signalled action on the two-child benefit cap in her budget on Wednesday and Murray said the move would be welcome, but must be followed by other practical, life-changing reforms.
She said: “Repairing the damage done by punitive benefit cuts to our poorest families is crucial.
“In the short term, limiting benefits to two children might have saved money, but this has cost our country far more in the poverty inflicted, young lives harmed and futures sabotaged.”
Aberlour delivers a range of support for children and families across Scotland and, Murray said, the priority for policy-makers is to swiftly roll out effective services capable of making the most difference to whole families in the long-term.
She said: “There is a lot of talk about child poverty, but policy discussions often fail to reflect the day to day reality of families and the urgency of the situation.
“We need to support and stabilise families both for today and for good.
“We must never be content to talk about simply ‘tackling’ or ‘reducing’ poverty, as if some level of poverty is acceptable. Our only ambition must be to eradicate it and prevent it happening again.”
Murray, former chief executive of Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, called for new urgency as Aberlour launches its Winter appeal, with every pound donated supporting its Urgent Assistance Fund (UAF).
This delivers urgent cash payments to families at immediate risk of financial crisis and, in the year to October, rushed £378,000 to families needing urgent assistance, up 17% on the £324,000 delivered in the preceding 12 months.
The charity has now distributed almost £4 million of emergency payments with the majority helping buy food, clothing and heating. The average payment last year was £236 and delivered within days of approval.
Murray said: “The applications reveal how a single unexpected bill, a broken washing machine, for example, or bedding damaged by damp, can mean calamity for a family.
“Many families are balanced on the thinnest tightrope and the smallest breeze is a serious risk.
“These payments are relatively small, a few hundred pounds, but this can mean the difference between children going to bed fed and warm or cold and hungry.
“Our frontline teams offer a whole range of practical assistance and emotional support but, at times of absolute crisis, those families need money most urgently of all.”
Aberlour is marking its 150th anniversary this year, but Murray said many of the social issues demanding action in 1875 remain unresolved today.
She said: “More than a century and a half after our charity began caring for children in need, young people in Scotland are still going to bed cold and going to school hungry.
“Their lives and life chances are still being sabotaged by poverty, as they were all those years ago and, as a country, we should have done better. We still can.”
