Low income families are set to receive increased pregnancy and baby grants
New parents on low incomes are set to receive a financial boost.
Families on low incomes can apply for a new pregnancy and baby grant from December 10, the Scottish Government has announced.
The first payments for the new Best Start Grant will be made before Christmas and eligible applicants will be given £600 to help with their first child.
It is £100 more than would have been paid under the UK Government’s Sure Start Maternity Grant, which the new payment replaces in Scotland.
The Best Start Grant also increases the current UK Government support from £500 to £1,100 for a first child and from zero to £800 for the second and all subsequent children.
The payments are split into a £600 birth payment for the first child and £300 for the second and all subsequent children.
In all cases these are followed by two payments of £250 – one when the youngster can access a nursery place and another when he or she starts primary school.
In a statement at Holyrood, Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said these later payments would be introduced from summer next year.
She said around 39,000 payments are expected to be made annually at a total cost of £12.1 million by 2020.
Somerville said: “I’m delighted to be able to deliver the baby and pregnancy payments for the Best Start Grant six months early, which of course means paying families on lower incomes more money more quickly – vital help at a time when they are seeking support for the UK Government social security spending drastically reducing.”
