The SNP has challenged Andy Burnham to "get serious" on tackling child poverty when his first Budget is announced in two weeks' time.
Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Social Justice Secretary, told the Record the Prime Minister must announce "concrete policies" to help families struggling with stubbornly high inflation and rising fuel costs.
John Healey, the Chancellor, will deliver his first Budget statement on October 28, amid a darkening global economic outlook made worse by Donald Trump's ongoing war against Iran.
Somerville: "Folk are really feeling no difference"
Somerville acknowledged the UK Government faced "difficult choices" on spending - but insisted Labour had to deliver on pledges to help ordinary families.
The SNP MSP said: "Folk are really feeling no difference from a Burnham Government. He really needs to deliver on the vibes, which he's very good at presenting, with some concrete policies at the Budget."
"When he came to power he said he would help people with the cost of living. Now he's got the opportunity to do something about it."
SNP calls for UK-wide Scottish Child Payment
The SNP has long called for the UK Government to replicate the Scottish Child Payment - a standalone benefit only issued north of the Border - and offer it to families nationwide, which it claims would lift more than one million children out of poverty overnight.
The party is also pushing for an end to the freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA), which has been in place for the last three years.
A recent Resolution Foundation report found that a low-income family renting a two-bedroom home now faces an average shortfall of £158 a month.
Housing freeze limits help
The SNP Government mitigates against the impact of shortfalls for Scots tenants through increased funding for Discretionary Housing Payments - but Somerville said the ongoing freeze limited its ability to prevent homelessness and tackle child poverty.
"The Prime Minister has the power to lift the freeze," she said. "If he was to, we would have money where we could help even more people."
It comes as a recent damning report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found one in five kids are growing up in Scotland in poverty - with the SNP Government set to miss legally binding targets on the issue "by miles".
It warned that without "radical change" Scotland will miss its legally binding target to cut relative child poverty to below 10 per cent by 2030 by a "wide margin".
The SNP Government previously missed its legal targets for 2023-2024, although the child poverty rate did fall.
Somerville: "We're determined to meet that target"
Asked if the 2030 target was still achievable, Somerville said: "We're determined to meet that target. But I don't underestimate how challenging it will be.
"We know our policies are already making a difference right now. Households with kids on the lowest incomes are £2,700 better off as a result of decisions we've made.
"But we know we need to go further. I accept the targets are challenging, but we have to meet them because there are still far too many children living in poverty in Scotland.
"We are determined to do what we can, and we're simply asking for the UK Government to play a part in that."
