Supports and benefits available to parents

Bringing up kids is amazing, but there are lots of daily tasks that can be tough to manage, money being one of them! Money (or lack of it) can be really stressful to deal with, but there is help out there if you need it. There’s a wide range of benefits and services available. To make life that wee bit easier for you, we’ve pulled together a list of what you could be entitled to as a parent.

The Money Talk Team is available to help you make the most of your money. The team offers personalised advice on money matters - from benefit take up and council tax reduction to free school meals and reducing household energy costs. They can also support you to ensure you’re claiming all the grants and benefits you might be entitled to and make sure you don’t pay more than you need to for basic services like utilities. This service is delivered by the Citizens Advice Network in Scotland. You can call 0800 085 7145 or get in touch with your local bureau if you’d prefer to see someone face to face. You can find details of your local Citizens Advice Bureau here.

These ‘Worrying About Money?’ leaflets can help you work out what kind of help you need depending on your situation, and where you can access help in your local area.

On this page you'll find information on:

Support and benefits for expectant parents and parents with a newborn baby
General support and benefits for parents
Energy, bills and household support and benefits
Debt and money support
Saving on travel

Support and benefits for expectant parents and parents with a newborn baby

Maternity and paternity leave

If you’ve just found out you’re going to have a baby and you and/or your partner are currently working, you will be entitled to maternity and paternity leave. To see what options are open to you, visit the websites below:

The Pregnancy and Baby Payment

The Pregnancy and Baby Payment is a cash payment for parents, or carers, who get certain benefits or are under 18, to help you give your baby the best start. Those who are 18 or 19, and in full-time education are also eligible for a payment if they are dependent on someone else who claims benefits on their behalf.

The Pregnancy and Baby Payment can help to cover some of the costs of having children. These costs could be things like needing a pram, buying clothes or heating your home but, because it's a cash payment, you can choose how you need to spend the money. To find out more about the payment visit mygov.scot or phone Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.

Scotland’s Baby Box

Items packed into the Baby Box

We want to welcome every baby born in Scotland by giving them their own Baby Box. The Baby Box will help families prepare for the arrival of their baby and provide a safe and comfortable place for them to sleep. The box itself acts like a Moses basket as it comes complete with a mattress and bedding that fits perfectly.

New babies need a surprising amount of stuff! Scotland’s Baby Box is packed full of clothes, bedding and lots of other useful things to help give your baby the best possible start in life.

Find out more about the Baby Box and how you can get yours.

Best Start Foods payments

Best Start Foods is a new payment card you can use to buy healthy food. It replaces the UK Government’s Healthy Start Vouchers in Scotland.

You can apply for Best Start Foods if you live in Scotland if you get certain benefits or tax credits and you’re pregnant or the parent or carer of a child.

If you are under 18, you might be eligible during your pregnancy up until your child turns 1 – even if you’re not on a benefit.

You can find out more and apply for Best Start Foods at the gov.scot website.

Young Patients Family Fund

If your baby was born prematurely or is in hospital for another reason, there is help available to support you with the cost of hospital visits. The Young Patients Family Fund allows the parents and primary carers for child inpatients to claim for the cost of food, travel and accommodation associated with visits to hospital. You can find out more about the Young Patients Family Fund further down this page.

General support and benefits for parents

School clothing grant

Photo of a girl standing in her school uniform in the doorway

You may be entitled to apply for a school clothing grant, which provides financial help towards the cost of buying a school uniform. School clothing grants are normally a cash grant paid directly into your bank account from your local council. Eligibility criteria for school clothing grants (i.e. who can apply) is set by local councils. Further information, and a direct link to local council websites, is available on the mygov.scot website.

Free school meals

Boy eating an apple for his school dinner

All children get free school meals during term-time if they go to a local authority school and are in primary 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

Please visit the mygov.scot website to find out if your child is eligible to receive free school meals.

Older pupils aged above 16 can also receive free school meals if they receive the same qualifying benefits in their own right.

More information on help with school costs can also be found here.

Child Benefit

You can get Child Benefit for any of your children who are under 16 and live in the UK. If they stay in most types of school, college or training after that age you can get Child Benefit until they're 20. Only one person can claim Child Benefit for a child. You should claim Child Benefit as soon as your child is born or, if they're adopted, as soon as they come to live with you. Child Benefit can only be backdated for up to 3 months so if you claim it any time after this you'll miss some payments.

Visit www.gov.uk for more information on how to claim Child Benefit.

Guidance on eligibility, how to claim and how to challenge a decision is available on the Citizens Advice Scotland website.

Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit

Child Tax Credit is another payment made by the government to help with the cost of bringing up a child. While every child in the UK is eligible for Child Benefit, not every household is eligible for Child Tax Credit, it depends on your circumstances including your income how many children are living with you whether your child has a disability.

You will be able to get Child Tax Credits if you already receive:

Income support
Income-based Job seekers allowance
Income-related Employment and support allowance
Child tax credit up to a maximum income of £16,190 per annum
Universal credit with an income limit of £610/month

The government is currently introducing Universal Credit, a new type of benefit which will eventually replace tax credits including Child Tax Credit. Visit www.gov.uk for more information on Child Tax Credit, and whether Universal Credit has replaced it in your area yet.

Financial help if you have a child with disabilities

If you have a child with disabilities and you have stopped work to care for your child, money can be a big strain. However, you may be able to get financial help if you have a disabled child. There's the Child Disability Payment (which replaces the Disability Living Allowance for Children) to help with expenses, as well as the Carer's Allowance and if your child is aged 16 or over they may be entitled to Personal Independent Payment (PIP).

Guardian’s Allowance

If you’re looking after a child whose parent or parents have died, you may be able to claim Guardian’s Allowance. For more information on this, and for how to apply, visit www.gov.uk.

Financial help if your child is in hospital

It’s upsetting enough if your child needs to go into hospital without worrying about how you’ll pay the travel and extra food costs of visiting them every day. So if you are the parent or primary carer of a child (under 18) who is an inpatient in hospital, you can claim for financial help towards food, travel and, where appropriate, accommodation when you go to see them. Claims can be made through the Young Patients Family Fund. You can also claim for financial help towards food, travel and accommodation for any of your child’s brothers or sisters under 18 years old who are coming to the hospital to see their sibling.

You must claim from the Young Patients Family Fund within 3 months of the young inpatient being discharged from hospital.

You can find out more about the Young Patients Family Fund and make a claim on the mygov.scot website.

Scottish Child Payment

The Scottish Child Payment is a new benefit that pays £20 a week to families who live in Scotland and get certain benefits. It’s available for families with children under the age of 6 and there is no limit on the number of children that families can claim for.

The payment will be extended to children under the age of 16 by the end of this year.

To find out more and apply, visit the mygov.scot website.

Help with childcare costs

If your child is 3 or 4 years old, you can access up to 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year (around 30 hours a week in term time). About a quarter of 2 year olds are also eligible. You can find out more about funded ELC here. In addition to the 1140 hours, you may be able to get help with childcare costs through tax credits for childcare, tax-free childcare or universal credit for childcare. Visit the Childcare Choices website to find out more.

Energy, bills and household support and benefits

Home energy check

Home Energy Scotland is funded by the Scottish Government to provide advice and help with home energy efficiency measures to make your home easier and cheaper to heat. The types of measures offered under the various Scottish Government funded schemes include insulation, heating systems and energy efficient doors and windows.

You can use their Home Energy Check tool to find out how you can achieve lower energy bills and a more comfortable home.

Home Energy Scotland

Home Energy Scotland can also refer you for independent advice on switching to ensure you are on the most suitable energy tariff for your needs. You can contact Home Energy Scotland by calling 0808 808 2282 Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm, and on Saturday from 9am to 5pm or you can complete their online contact form here.

Council Tax discounts, exemption and reductions

The Council Tax Reduction Scheme reduces how much council tax someone needs to pay, depending on their income and circumstances. You can apply for a Council Tax Reduction whether you own your home or rent, or whether you’re working or unemployed. The biggest reduction you can get is 100% off your annual bill. Visit the Check My Council Tax website to see if you can save. For more information and how to apply, visit www.mygov.scot, where you can find out more about council tax discounts, exemption and reductions.

Changing Energy Supplier

Changing your energy supplier is easy and could save you several hundred pounds per year, especially if you have never switched before. You just need some basic information that you will find on your energy bill. The best way to do it is to use an accredited price comparison service. You can do this online or over the phone. It is generally cheaper to pay by direct debit to get the best tariffs available.

However, there is currently a cap on prices that can be charged for prepayment meters so these are not as expensive as paying quarterly.

The energy regulator Ofgem has a list of accredited price comparison sites. This makes sure that the information that they provide is fair and accurate.

List of comparison sites:

What you will need:

Your annual use in kWh units, or the annual cost of your energy. Every energy supplier must provide this information on their bills.
The name of your current tariff and your energy company.
Your payment method – whether it’s direct debit, prepayment or pay on receipt of the bill.
Your postcode.
Your bank details (if paying by direct debit). If you do not have this information you can use average consumption figures instead – based on Ofgem averages. You may have to do this if you have just moved into the property.

Get extra help during power cuts or if there’s an interruption to your electricity, gas or water supply

The Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free, UK wide service which provides extra help during power cuts or when there’s an interruption to your electricity, gas or water supply. Anyone who lives with a child under 5 can register for this extra support, but if your children are older there are lots of other reasons you may be eligible too – you can find out more at the PSR Scotland website. Extra support includes things like priority updates during outages, a connection to your local emergency services and emergency supplies of power and water if you need them. Visit the PSR Scotland website to see if you’re eligible and to register.

If you have a power cut and need to know more, you can call PSR Scotland on 105.

Debt and money support

Scottish Welfare Fund

The Scottish Welfare Fund helps families and people in Scotland who are on low incomes by offering 2 different types of grants:

Crisis Grant: You can claim if you're in crisis because of a disaster (like a fire or flood), or an emergency (like losing your money or an unexpected expense).
Community Care Grant: This grant is to help you or someone you care for to start to live, or to carry on living, a settled life in the community. You can apply for these grants directly through your local council by visiting www.mygov.scot.

Basic Bank Accounts

If you don’t have a bank account, a fee-free basic bank account may be worth opening. It might also be a good thing to think about if you can’t use or open a standard current account. You can use a fee-free basic bank account to receive money and pay bills, but it doesn’t allow you to use an overdraft. To find out more about fee-free basic bank accounts, visit www.moneyhelper.org.uk. For more details different types of bank accounts visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk.

Debt support

Most of us find ourselves in debt at some point in our lives. But being in debt can put a huge strain on you and your relationships, and it can often feel like there’s just no way out of it. But there is lots of help available.

If you’d like to talk to someone about making the most of your income or claiming any of the benefits above, you can arrange a free chat with the Money Talk Team by calling 0800 085 7145 or find your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau to arrange a face to face chat with their independent advisers.

Stepchange can provide advice on debt and money issues and they can be contacted through their website at www.stepchange.org or on their helpline at 0800 138 1111. This is a free number which is open 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am – 4pm on Saturday.

Advice Direct Scotland also has a team of advisers who can provide support and offer solutions to a wide range of issues. They can be contacted through their website, Moneyadvice.scot via LiveChat, email or phone (their debt advice line is open Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm on 0808 196 2316).

Credit Unions

A credit union is a place where you can save your money and get loans at competitive rates. They’re not-for-profit, so any money they make goes back to the people who use them via their rates and dividends. Unlike most banks, credit unions are owned and controlled by the people that use their services, and they exist only to serve their customers. They also take into account your own personal financial situation, provide a friendly service, and are based in communities around Scotland.

You can find a credit union near you here, or explore your options with an adviser as part of the Money Talk Team.

Community Development Finance Institutions

Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) are affordable credit providers. They lend to people who cannot access a loan from a mainstream provider like a bank. In doing so they offer an alternative to high-cost lending and provide many low income households with a financial safety net to fall back on when they need to cover costs, such as an unexpected washing machine breakdown.

Some CDFIs also offer their customers wrap-around services, including advice on opening a bank account, debt advice and help in claiming benefits. To find out more about CDFIs operating in Scotland please visit findingfinance.org.uk.

Debt Arrangement Scheme

The Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) is a government-backed debt management tool which allows you to repay what you owe through a debt payment programme.

Under a debt payment programme, you repay your debts in one affordable monthly payment over any reasonable extended period of time.

DAS freezes interest, fees and charges on the debt and offers protection from creditors (the people you owe money to), which means they should not contact you or increase your debt during the period of your programme.

Applying for a DAS is free but you must apply through an approved money adviser.

Free advice is available but there are some organisations who will charge for this service, so it's worthwhile checking before seeking advice.

To find out more about the Debt Arrangement Scheme, talk to an approved money adviser or check out the DAS Scotland website.

Trust deeds

A trust deed is a formal debt solution and form of insolvency. Trust deeds can be voluntary or protected and are provided through a trustee (such as an insolvency practitioner).

A trust deed normally lasts for 48 months and you will need to pay a monthly contribution during this time. Your payments will be used to cover your trustee’s fees as well as payments to creditors at the end of the trust deed.

In a voluntary trust deed, an agreement is made between an individual and their creditors to repay part, or all of what they owe.

Under a voluntary trust deed, the debtor’s rights to the things they own are transferred to a trustee who will sell them to pay creditors part of what is owed to them.

A voluntary trust deed is not legally binding on creditors, which means they can still take action to recover the money they are owed regardless of the trust deed agreement. They could, for example, still apply to make you bankrupt.

A trust deed can become protected if a majority of creditors agree to its terms and it meets other detailed conditions. A protected trust deed is a legally binding agreement and creditors cannot take further action to recover the money they are owed as long as the terms of the trust deed (for example, making regular monthly payments) are not broken.

Signing a trust deed is a serious step and individuals must be sure they understand what they are signing when entering into one. You can find out more about trust deeds here.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a formal method of dealing with debts if other options have failed or are inappropriate. The consequences of bankruptcy are severe and no one should make an application for bankruptcy without being fully aware of the alternatives and seeking advice at an early stage.

In Scotland bankruptcy is sometimes called sequestration.

If a debtor is declared bankrupt, a trustee will be appointed and will have the legal authority to take action to recover funds due via a regular contribution, or from any assets a debtor owns, including their home.

All assets, including property, will be investigated by the trustee and where necessary sold.

For information and support about bankruptcy, visit www.mygov.scot.

Saving on travel

All young people and children aged 5-21 years can apply for a card to access the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme. If your child is aged 16-21 they can apply themselves, but if they’re younger then you’ll need to apply on their behalf. You can find out more about the scheme and how to apply at freebus.scot.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to save on travel too. The Transport Scotland website has information about other free or discounted travel schemes here.

Family Support Directory

Find more support for your finances from trusted organisations in our Family Support Directory.

Visit the Family Support Directory >