New figures tell a clear story about child poverty in Scotland: We can solve it, but Governments must do more.
Suzi Murning, Save the Children’s Policy and Advocacy Adviser in Scotland, looks at the latest figures on child poverty and what needs to happen now.
Right now, too many families across Scotland are fearful of how they are going to put food on the table or keep warm in the winter months. Some families are even worried about how long they will continue to have a roof over their heads as the cost-of-living crisis is showing no sign of abating.
One parent told us recently, “It's like you’re in the army and you’re surviving each day with basic rations.”
New figures tell a revealing story
New figures from the End Child Poverty (ECP) Coalition show the extent of this hardship. The figures reveal localised data showing child poverty exists in every Local Authority area in Scotland.
While the data shows that, in the period 2020/21, over 1 in 5 children across Scotland were living in relative poverty, it also reveals that in places like North and East Ayrshire this number rises to around 1 in 4, and in Glasgow the number is closer to 1 in 3, with 29% of children living in poverty.
This data, when considered against the previous period from 2014/15 to 2019/20, tells a revealing story about child poverty in Scotland, one that coalition members (including Save the Children, Trussell Trust and CPAG) have been repeating for years.
Firstly, the figures for the year 2020/21 were still stubbornly high, despite the £20 increase to Universal Credit being in place during this period. This demonstrates that we cannot expect child poverty trends to be significantly reversed without ambitious, targeted action to put more money in the pockets of low-income families.
The second part of the story comes to light when we consider that, although the number of children in poverty in 2020/21 was still unacceptably high, most local authority areas in Scotland did see a slight drop in child poverty rates as compared with 2014/15. It is roundly accepted that this was a result of the temporary £20 increase to Universal Credit payments – which has since been cut.
Child poverty isn't inevitable
This proves what we already know, that child poverty is not inevitable and that investing in social security reduces child poverty rates. Lifting a child out of poverty, in turn, increases the child’s life chances and boosts their health, wellbeing, and ability to thrive. By failing to input sufficient investment in social security, children and parents will be held back from enjoying a decent and dignified life.
"I haven’t even paid for my electricity, because I’m running out of it. It’s not enough really. I’m still in debt because of my electricity."
High rates of child poverty come down to political choices in both Westminster and Holyrood. Successive cuts to social security payments and punitive reforms to the system, imposed by the Government in Westminster, have cause a long-term rise in child poverty across the UK. A July report from The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that just before the pandemic, relative child poverty rose to the highest level since 2007 as a result of ongoing austerity-era policies.
The Scottish Government’s intention to ‘do things differently’ is best represented by the decision to set legally binding targets to reduce relative child poverty to less than ten percent by 2030. To this end, significant progress has been made.
Targeted investment in social security to reduce child poverty, through increasing the value of the Scottish Child Payment and extending eligibility, is estimated to reduce relative child poverty by 5 percentage points by 2023/24, lifting 50,000 children out of poverty. This shows just how significant investment in social security is for families. The Scottish Child Payment has provided welcome breathing space to families on the lowest incomes and Save the Children welcomes this investment and commitment to children.
"Universal Credit is not enough"
The latest Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan projects that the Scottish Government is on course to reduce relative child poverty to seventeen percent by 2023/4. However, in a recent report in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we warned, based on modelling provided by the Fraser of Allander Institute, that the actions within the Plan may not be enough to meet the interim child poverty targets – falling just short at 19%.
"Universal Credit is not enough, given the crowd I have at home and the bills I have to clear, and the transport here and there. It’s just not enough."
The cost-of-living crisis is causing a tidal wave of increased hardship for families across Scotland and is unlikely to recede any time soon. While we welcome the UK Government’s cost-of-living financial support package and the Scottish Government’s wider actions to reduce child poverty, the hardships faced by families across Scotland, who are disproportionately impacted by the crisis, vastly outweigh the support being offered.
Despite encouraging projections that child poverty in Scotland will fall in the next few years – contrasting starkly with projected rises across the UK – for families and children struggling to put food on the table, action to address poverty and the cost-of-living crisis can’t come soon enough.
As a start, ECP coalition members are urging the Scottish Government to commit to doubling bridging payments in advance of the full roll out of the Scottish Child Payments, and the UK Government to commit to ongoing increases to UK family benefits. Our recent report with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation outlines what more the Scottish Government can and must do to ensure child poverty targets are met.
We can end child poverty, but it will require both our Governments, as well as local authorities, to boost family incomes, reduce costs, and to invest in credible long-term solutions that tackle the causes and not just the symptoms of poverty.
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