Investing in giving every child a fair start in life is investing in the kind of Scotland we all want to live in - a Scotland where no child is held back from achieving their potential simply because they have more siblings.

Child poverty is not inevitable; it is about thoughtful political choices. The next Scottish Government simply must invest to meet the 2030 legally binding targets and help every child thrive (3/4)

We also know that large families are disproportionately impacted by poverty. Imposing a two-child limit on this payment would be cruel and unjust and trap even more families in poverty (2/4)

Investing in the tiniest members of our society – alongside the other commitments made to tackle child poverty - is how we sow the seeds of a brighter tomorrow.

This is the bold action we have been calling for to meaningfully tackle child poverty and make sure every baby in Scotland has an equal chance to thrive. This is a moment of hope for families, and for all of us.

We have been campaigning hard for targeted income increases for families with a baby under one when the impacts of tackling and preventing poverty can have the greatest impact.

Evidence shows that investing in a baby's first year has a lasting impact on childhoods and life chances. That's why we’re urging the Scottish Government to invest any ‘freed-up’ cash in families with a baby to make sure our next generation can fulfill its full potential.

This is less than the estimated amount that has been freed up by the UK Government scrapping the two-child limit which the Scottish Government had committed to mitigating and has since pledged to invest to drive more progress on child poverty.

These changes would benefit around 30,000 children, reducing poverty rates for families with a baby by 6 percentage points, at a cost of £100m a year.

We're calling on the Scottish Government to do better for babies by increasing the Best Start Pregnancy and Baby Payment and the Best Start Foods Grant.

We're calling for Scotland to do Better for Babies at the budget by

📈 Increasing the Best Start Pregnancy Grant to £4,885 for a first child (paid quarterly)

📈 Raising the Best Start Foods Grant to £160 per month.

Evidence shows that investing in a baby’s first year has a lasting impact on childhoods and life chances - but over one in three families with a baby is living in poverty.

We urge the Scottish Government to use the money to further strengthen social security, as a positive step to deliver better childhoods and a better future for all of us.

The Scottish Government had rightly committed funding to mitigate this policy and promised to use this money to tackle child poverty if the two-child limit was scrapped at source.