Ensuring healthy pregnancies and preventing childhood poverty
Responding to SNP proposals for new borns and their parents, Alison Johnstone, Health and Wellbeing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP candidate for Lothian, said:
"Ensuring healthy pregnancies and preventing childhood poverty are top priorities for the Scottish Greens, and our bold proposals to reform income tax and council tax would raise revenue to invest in these priorities, while reducing bills for most households. We must reverse the Tories' cuts to pregnancy and child-related benefits, and recruit more health visitors and midwives. Greens have advocated the Finnish baby box scheme in the past but we must be sure it isn't just a promotional opportunity for commercial interests.
"Greens want to expand the Sure Start Maternity Grant to provide financial stability for pregnant mums at risk of poverty, and we want to support midwives and health visitors to work with families to claim the financial support they are entitled to.
"Greens want early years education that is child-centred and flexible for parents who work or study part-time. We have also led the way on fuel poverty, getting the SNP in government to agree that energy efficient housing should be a national investment priority. With more Greens in parliament we can ensure this priority is allocated the funding it deserves, as no child should have to grow up in a cold home."