It has attracted strong praise from respected poverty experts, with some describing it as exceptional even by European standards. These are among the strongest attributable statements:
| Figure | Quote and context |
|---|---|
| Professor Danny Dorling, University of Oxford | The David Hume Institute reported in August 2023 that he described the payment as creating “the biggest fall in child poverty anywhere in Europe for at least 40 years.” This is the institute’s account of his remarks at its event. David Hume Institute |
| Chris Birt, Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s associate director for Scotland | On its expansion in November 2022: “a watershed moment for tackling poverty in Scotland, and the rest of the UK should take notice.” STV News |
| John Dickie, director of Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland | On the policy’s announcement in 2019: “This new payment is an absolute game changer in the fight to end child poverty.” Recorded in the policy’s official impact assessment. gov.scot |
| Tom Wernham, Institute for Fiscal Studies | Told Holyrood in May 2024: “alleviating the depth of poverty will still be an achievement of the payment.” His point was that it helps families even when their income remains below the poverty threshold. Scottish Parliament Website |
| Sioned Williams, Wales’s Deputy First Minister | In the Senedd on 30 September 2026, described it as “a payment that has proven so successful in Scotland in lowering rates of child poverty”, while discussing Wales’s proposed child-payment pilot. Welsh Parliament |
| Dunja Mijatović, then Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights | Her 2022 report recognised “several welcome attempts to offset some of the problems identified below, including through cash transfers and targeted schemes”, explicitly citing Scottish Child Payment as an example. This was qualified European recognition of devolved measures, rather than a standalone superlative about the payment. rm.coe.int |
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