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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Are baby boxes a waste of money?

This poll is over 6 years old
 

​Baby boxes are set to be made available to all newborns who arrive on 15 August or later.

The Scottish Government is distributing the boxes – which are filled with health products and can be used as a sleep space – to help new parents welcome their babies into a safe environment.

The Lullaby Trust has said there is no evidence to claim that the boxes reduce infant mortality and that they may not meet safety standards.

The average cost of the box to the taxpayer is around £160, with the scheme set to amount to £35.3 million over its first four years of operation. But do you think baby boxes are a waste of money? Please leave a comment below.

Are baby boxes a waste of money?

Yes
43
No
27
Options
Voting in this poll has now closed
 

Comments

0 0
M Stewart
over 5 years ago
The relatively low cost of the scheme is largely irrelevant. The issue remains that finite public money is being diverted away from true 'safety net' functions of health and social care, functions which, in stark contrast to the box scheme, constitute proven interventions but are being dangerously compromised because of divertion of funds towards such 'nice-to-haves'. The baby box scheme does more for the politicians behind it's promotion than it does for babies.
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