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Publication - Research and analysis

Scottish Child Payment and the Labour Market - update 2026

Published
13 October 2026
From
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing, +1 more … Director of Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice
Directorate
Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice Directorate, +1 more … Social Security Directorate
Topic
Children and families, Cost of living crisis, Economy, +1 more … Work and skills
ISBN
9781807756161

This publication presents Scottish Government analysis of how Scottish Child Payment interacts with the labour market in Scotland.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Poverty context

New poverty statistics and updated modelling of the impact of SCP have been published since July 2024. The latest cumulative impact assessment[1] estimates that SCP will keep 50,000 children out of relative poverty in 2026-27, reducing the relative child poverty rate by five percentage points compared with a counterfactual in which the payment was not available. This represents an increase from the estimated impact reported in the July 2024 publication.

The poverty estimates and impact modelling provide important context for considering the interaction between SCP and the labour market. However, they do not in themselves identify whether the payment has affected employment, hours worked or earnings. The following sections consider the latest evidence on these outcomes.

Contact

Email: ceu@gov.scot

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