More than 120 charities, campaigners and trade unions have called on the Scottish Government to offer more financial support to families struggling with the cost of living.
In a joint letter to the First Minister, the coalition praised the decision earlier this year to double the Scottish Child Payment from £10 to £20.
But they warned that children over the age of five would not benefit until the end of the year and bridging payments should be increased as a result.
Campaigners have urged Nicola Sturgeon to "do the right thing" and double the October and Christmas bridging payments from £130 to £260 as part of wider action to support households through the cost of living crisis.
The letter has been signed by the Children’s Commissioner, the General Secretary of the STUC, the Unite, Unison and EIS trade unions, and several frontline charities.
They argue that doubling the bridging payments would be a straightforward way of getting more cash support to many of the households struggling most.
John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), coordinated the letter and warned parents were already going without food to feed their children.
He said: “Doubling the Scottish Child Payment in April this year was absolutely the right thing to do, but older children are not set to benefit until the end of the year and their families are also facing more eye-watering price hikes this autumn.
"Doubling the remaining bridging payments would be a really straightforward way to help plug the gaps in the cash support available to families across Scotland."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The First Minister has committed to an emergency budget review to assess all opportunities to target additional resources to those most in need during this cost of living crisis.
"At the same time, we will continue to do everything within our resources and powers to help those most affected.
"This includes increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per eligible child per week when we extend it to under 16s by the end of the year – with its increase to £20 in April, this represents a 150% increase within nine months.
"We are the only nation in the UK offering this vital anti-poverty benefit, as well as bridging payments worth £520 annually to support over 148,000 school age children backed by investment £150 million last year and this.
"We will also continue to press the UK Government to use all the levers at its disposal to tackle this emergency on the scale required – these include access to borrowing, providing benefits and support to households, VAT on fuel, taxation of windfall profits and regulation of the energy market."
