The third progress report also found that more than 5,000 low-income households shared £10 million through the Scottish Government-funded Money Talk Team advice service in the past year – each averaging £1,940 through increased benefit uptake and savings on essential services.

Speaking ahead of a parliamentary debate on Achieving a Fairer Scotland, communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: “With over £1.4bn invested directly to support low-income households last year, this progress report outlines the strong and significant action we are taking to create a fairer, more prosperous Scotland.

“This includes over £100 million to mitigate the effects of UK Government welfare policies – money which could have been better spent on other anti-poverty measures.

“Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that as a result of UK Government welfare changes, over half a million children in the UK now live in poverty and in-work poverty is rising faster than employment.

“We are determined to reverse this trend. That is why we are supporting parents into work and introducing the new Scottish Child Payment, which is designed to tackle child poverty head-on. When delivered in full, 410,000 children – over a third of all children in Scotland - will be eligible and it is expected 30,000 children will be lifted out of poverty. We are also introducing this payment early for eligible families with a child under six years old.”