NICOLA Sturgeon said this week her plans for the coming year would include a new income supplement policy for low-paid parents.

Further details are awaited, but the First Minister’s programme says that the Government will begin work on a £12 million intensive parental employment support programme.

Any help which gives people bringing up children on low wages more cash at their disposal is to be welcomed.

However, it is not a long-term solution and acts as a subsidy for employers to continue to pay low wages.

Working tax credits and child tax credits, introduced under Labour when Gordon Brown was Chancellor, was a great idea at the time.

For those in receipt it was a godsend knowing you can afford new shoes for children going back to school and the wages last longer into the month than before. 

It had the desired effect of lifting many out of poverty, but didn’t address the underlying causes of poverty – it mitigated them. 

Mitigation is good as it helps people in the here and now experiencing poverty, but these measures need to be carried out alongside long-term measures.

If a mum and dad are reliant on tax credits to raise their children, it is sign government is trying to help.

If those children, by the time they become parents a generation later, are reliant on the same measures, then it has failed. 

And that is exactly what has happened with intergenerational poverty.
These policies are also at risk from future governments coming in and reversing the support given because it doesn’t fit their agenda.

So there needs to be stronger action on why children with working parents are living in poverty.

Action on the real Living Wage is a must, employers must be forced to pay a real wage that people can live on without expecting the state to top it up. 

A real living wage for the employees who are the ones making the profits must come before shareholders dividends.

Tougher action on low paid zero hours contracts and insecure so-called flexible work.

Workers need the certainty of knowing how much they will earn at the end of each week or month to be confident they can meet their responsibilities.

Also, it is not just about what is coming in, but what is going out and where it is going to.

If wages topped up by the government are going to line the already well-stuffed pockets of the rich, it is money down the drain.

The government gives with one hand and the rich take it away with the other.

Too much is going on higher bills for non-negotiable essentials like rent and fuel.

The First Minister announced progress would be made on a consultation for a not-for-profit energy company.

Too many low-paid customers are at the mercy of the big energy firms and whatever tariff they want to impose, with those on pre-paid meters paying more than others.

Action on rising rents needed with private sector landlords able to charge what they like often for a property that does not deserve it.

Extra pounds in the wallets and purses of low paid working parents is hugely welcome.

But on its own, it is not a solution to eradicating child poverty in the long term.