Difference between revisions of "Impact of digital technologies on social protection and human rights"
, 2 years ago
The Scottish Government have the power to create new entitlements and to top-up existing entitlements. This power has been utilised to pay a Carers Allowance Supplement to carers living in Scotland and in receipt of Carer's Allowance to 77,000 people in 2018/19 (Audit Scotland, May 2019). The Scottish Government has also committed to delivering two new forms of assistance: a Young Carer Grant and a Job Grant. The implementation of the more complex new, Income Supplement, is still to take place and will not be introduced until 2022 at the earliest. SCVO and organisations across Scotland's third sector recognise that delivering these new entitlements is a significant additional undertaking. The latest figures show, however, that 20%, or over one million, people in Scotland lived in poverty after housing costs in 2015/18 (Poverty and income inequality in Scotland: 2015-2018). Organisations across the sector, including the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), the Poverty Alliance, and other members of the Scottish Campaign for Welfare Reform therefore stress that there is an urgent need to top- up the incomes of Scotland's poorest people, families and communities to fulfil their right to an adequate standard of living.