Applications for the Scottish Child Payment are now open.

This new payment is for families on certain benefits or tax credits, to help towards the costs of looking after a child. A payment of £40 is paid every 4 weeks for each child under 6 years old, and does not affect other benefits.

With up to 194,000 children being eligible for this new benefit, and the economic impacts of COVID-19 hitting low income families hard, Social Security Scotland (who manages the benefit) expects a significant demand for this new payment, which starts on Monday 15^th February 2021.

People can apply for Scottish Child Payment whether in work or not. People may be eligible if they, or their partner, are the parent or full-time carer of a child who will be aged under 6 years old on Monday 15^th February 2021, and if they get certain benefits or tax credits, namely:

Child Tax Credit
Income Support
Pension Credit
Working Tax Credit
Universal Credit
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Every child under 6 years old in a qualifying family will receive a payment, which will be made every 4 weeks following the first payment. It is up to the person on how they decide to use this money to help support their family.

Eligible families will be paid into their chosen account. They can contact us if they wish to change their chosen account.

People can apply to Social Security Scotland for the Scottish Child Payment in the following ways:

by phone: 0800 182 2222
by downloading the application form and returning by post: Social Security Scotland, PO Box 27155, Glasgow, G4 7DX
via the scot website

Additionally, Stakeholder Resources for the Scottish Child Payment are available on the Social Security Scotland website; they have also produced a short video to help applicants, clients and stakeholders understand what the payment is and the timeline for it.