Up to 10,000 children will face “poverty, hunger and cold” as a result of the UK Government’s benefit cap, Citizens Advice Scotland has claimed.
However, a survey has shown almost three-quarters of people back the £500-a-week cap, which began this week.
Ipsos Mori research showed the vast majority of British people back the welfare state, but some 74% agreed with the cap and two-thirds thought it would help people move off benefits and into work.
Citizens Advice Scotland said the new changes will affect 4,600 households in Scotland, over half of which will lose at least £50 per week. It added more than a quarter will lose at least £100 per week.
The body’s chief executive, Margaret Lynch, said: “Those affected by this cap will be faced with three choices. They will either have to cut back on rent, food or fuel.
“That’s the reality of this benefits cap. Families with children will face eviction, poverty, hunger and cold.”
The benefit cap limits will be set at £500 a week for couples, with or without children, and lone parent households, and at £350 a week for households of a single adult with no children.
In total, it is expected that 40,000 households will have their benefits capped, which ministers say will save £110 million this year and £185 million next year.
SNP MSP Linda Fabiani said the changes would drive an additional 50,000 children in Scotland into poverty by 2020.
An impact assessment by the Scottish Government says single carers living in high rent areas are particularly vulnerable to the welfare cap.
Ms Fabiani said: “It is a frightening state of affairs and one everyone who wants a more socially responsible Scotland has a duty to resist.
“The fact that carers have been picked on to be the most exposed to today’s changes is sickening, if unsurprising. Carers do a vital job and need support not a financial nightmare.”
The Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, convener of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, said: “The cap doesn’t take into account the varying cost of living across the country, nor does it account for difficulties encountered in finding work.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said the proposed cap was “fair”.
“The benefit cap is an essential measure to restore fairness to our welfare system while ensuring that support goes to those who need it,” he added.