West Calder High School, in West Lothian, has taken radical steps to reduce the cost burden on families. To do that, they’ve overhauled their entire school uniform. The alternative uniform is now available online for only £10. This updated choice is in stark opposition to the old style uniform that previously cost £56 with a shirt and tie. This important effort will help bolster the social and emotional welfare of students by ensuring that school attire is one less burden families must endure.
The move would come as multiple parents are feeling the impact of a financial crunch. For example, Jen is a single mother working 22 hours a week in a care home, and as such she lives in poverty. Although Jen’s efforts to provide for her children are commendable, her income surpasses the West Dunbartonshire Council’s threshold of £933 a month for qualifying for the school uniform grant. Her financial period is extremely limited. Unfortunately, she’s not allowed to get the help she should be getting to lighten the burden of having to buy uniforms.
In Stirling Council and others, Jen’s earnings were under the £1,851 rubric. That environmental protection work makes her eligible for the grant to help pay for her advanced studies. This discrepancy raises questions about the uniformity of support across councils in Scotland. The Scottish government made £14.2 million available for school clothing grants this year. Thousands of families are still unable to access this vital support due to arbitrary income limits.
Around 120,000 children across Scotland are already in receipt of the clothing payment everybody benefits from. Excluding Manchester, most councils stop helping families on Universal Credit once they earn more than £850 a month. Eight councils don’t limit the higher income claimants from receiving the allowance. This inconsistency has created a growing chorus of activists and advocates calling on the Biden administration and other policymakers to reform grant eligibility criteria.
Sara Spencer is project manager for the Cost of the School Day at Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). She makes an impassioned case for all parents on Universal Credit to have the school uniform grant available to them. In particular, she highlights the struggles of working families who find it difficult to make ends meet even with a wage-earning parent.
“It would make it more fair and consistent across the country and most importantly it would mean that more children on low incomes would be receiving this vital support,” – Ms. Spencer
Julia Grindley of the Edinburgh Uniform Bank charity points to an urgent need. Millions of people experiencing poverty are ineligible for any state aid. She notes that about 40% of children referred for clothing crisis packs are ineligible for the School Clothing Grant despite their families’ financial struggles.
“Many of those have one or two parents who are working,” – Julia Grindley
Yet in telling her story, she reveals a paradox. Families earning just above the threshold frequently find themselves worse off than the unemployed.
“If they earn just £10 over the threshold they can actually end up worse off than families that are not working,” – Julia Grindley
This concern has led schools, such as West Calder High School, to ban smartphones. Gerry Higgins, headteacher of the school, mentioned that they now buy basic uniforms in bulk to keep costs down for parents. That’s because he knows uniform costs can prevent students from going to school.
“You will have young people who will deliberately not come into school because of the cost of the school day,” – Gerry Higgins
He added that some students may not even realize that their financial situation prevents them from fitting in with their peers.
“It might be that they don’t realise that is the reason but they cannot afford to look the same as other young people,” – Gerry Higgins
The Scottish government acknowledged these issues. The outcry over incidents like this led NPRC to issue guidelines in 2018 aimed at fostering more accessible and affordable uniforming practices. These guidelines promote adoption of policies by schools that lessen the financial impact on families.
Jen expressed her frustrations regarding her situation. She is concerned that in trying her hardest to pursue a career and support her children, she is not getting the necessary help.
“We are trying to work and better ourselves for our kids and then we aren’t getting the help at the end of it,” – Jen
She shared an example of how rapidly children’s needs can develop as they grow. Lastly, she described the heavy emotional impact this can have on families.
“They can go to school one minute and then they wake up the next day and go, ‘oh my shoes don’t fit’,” – Jen
She underscored the motivation of parents to make sure their children are not bullied because they look different than their classmates.
“We all want our kids in the best kind of stuff so they’re not getting bullied in school,” – Jen
