Support for families over summer

Long school holidays can be tough for families with the increased costs for food, clothes and activities. Our five family payments can help families on low incomes get through the school holidays. The payments also provide year-round support and at key stages in a child’s life and include:

Scottish Child Payment helps towards the costs of supporting families. It's a weekly payment of £27.15 for every child under 16 years in a household, paid every four weeks.

Scottish Child Payment is not limited to two children. It is available to eligible families with children ages 0 - 16 regardless of how many children there are in the home.

Best Start Foods is a payment of up to £43.20 every four weeks. It helps eligible pregnant women, parents, families and carers with children under the age of 3 to buy healthy foods for their families. People can apply for Best Start Foods as soon as they know they’re pregnant.

The money is provided on a pre-paid card which is topped up every 4 weeks. The card works like a bank card and can be used in local shops and supermarkets that accept card payments.

Early Learning Payment provides £319.80 to help with the costs of early learning, and is paid when a child is aged between 2 and 3 and a half years old. To get this payment your child does not need to go to nursery.

Early Learning Payment is available for multiple children and the money can be used for anything including toys, clothes and trips to new places.

At the end of the holidays, many families will have children starting school for the first time or reaching school age. School Age Payment helps with the costs of starting school and is worth £319.80 per eligible child.

Parents or carers can apply for the current School Age Payment if a child they look after was born between 1 March 2020 and 28 February 2021.

A child does not have to take up a place at school to get School Age Payment, but people still need to apply in the year that a child is first old enough to start school, if:

• you're deferring when your child starts school
• your child is not going to school

Helpful resources

If you are part of an organisation that supports families in Scotland, you can access shareable resources to help promote our five family payments.