1. Welfare grants in pregnancy and early childhood | |
Sure Start Maternity Grant (2000) (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) (2000–2018, Scotland) | One-off welfare payment of £500 given to low-income pregnant women to help with costs of having a child. From 2012, limited to the first child. |
Best Start Grant (2018) (Scotland) | Three payments for low-income pregnant women and families.
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Healthy Start (2006) (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) (2006–2019, Scotland) | Means-tested weekly vouchers given to pregnant women, children under 1 year and children aged 1–3 years to buy fruit, vegetables and milk. Means-tested pregnancy vitamins. |
Best Start Foods (2019) (Scotland) | Means-tested weekly vouchers given to pregnant women, children under 1 year and children aged 1–2 years to buy fruit, vegetables and milk. Universal pregnancy vitamins. |
2. Early years education and childcare provision | |
Universal entitlement | All four UK nations offer a universal entitlement for 38 weeks per year, ranging from 10 hours to 30 hours per week, for children aged 3–4 years. |
Working entitlement | Working families are entitled to 30 hours per week in England (2017) and Wales (2019). |
Disadvantaged entitlement | All four UK nations offer extra provision for disadvantaged 2-year-old children. Hours range from 7.5 hours to 30 hours per week. Disadvantaged provision is part of wider services in Northern Ireland (Sure Start) and Wales (Flying Start). |
Targeted early years funding | Extra support given to early years providers to support disadvantaged children aged 3–4 years in England (Early Years Pupil Premium £302 per child), Wales (Early Years Pupil Development Grant £1150 per child) and Northern Ireland (Pathway Fund up to £15 000 or £15 000–30 000 per provider). |
3.Universal Credit and welfare policies | |
Universal Credit (2013) | Combines six different welfare payments. Roll-out began in England and Wales (2013), followed by Scotland (2015) and Northern Ireland (2017). |
Household Benefit Cap (2013) | Cap limits amount of welfare payments. Set at £20 000 per year for couples and single parents since 2016. |
Removal of Spare Room Subsidy (2013) | Housing benefit reduced if rented property is judged to have more bedrooms than necessary (also referred to as ‘bedroom tax’). |
Two Child Limit (2017) | Withdraws means-tested support from third and subsequent children born since April 2017. |
Scottish Child Payment (2021) | £10 weekly payment to tackle child poverty for families with children under 6 years (means tested). Increased to £20 per week from April 2022. From November 2022, increased to £25 per week and extended to all children under 16 years in low-income families. |
*More detailed information on how these policies vary across the four UK nations in terms of implementation, timing and policy eligibility is available in MatCHNet’s policy briefings and reports.33–35
MatCHNet, Maternal and Child Health Network.