Suzi Murning, Policy and Advocacy Advisor for Save the Children in Scotland, looks at 3 ways that poverty can be especially harmful to babies under one.
In our new briefing, Better for Babies, we highlight the detrimental and potentially life-long negative impacts caused by experiences of poverty in the first year of a baby's life. When you consider the scale of the impact these experiences can have, it is especially shocking that 34% of families with a baby in Scotland are living in poverty.
“As soon as you find out [you’re pregnant] you just want to love and protect that bairn.” (Parent in Scotland, August 2023).
In the Scottish Government’s efforts to meet the 2030 child poverty targets, babies under one have rightly been identified as one of the six priority groups. This is because families with babies under one have a much higher chance of experiencing poverty – over 1 in 3 families with a baby are in poverty in Scotland, compared to 1 in 4 children overall.
We know that the impacts of poverty on children at any age can be profound and long-lasting. But what is often underacknowledged is the fact that the impacts of poverty are often the most severe, as well as the most lasting, when experienced in the earliest stages of childhood, especially the first year.
The impacts of poverty on babies can be direct, for example by not having enough money to provide essentials such as food, clothing and warmth. They can also be indirect, through creating parental stress, depression and conflict between parents, which can affect the care and quality of the home environment that parents can provide.
This is why we’re urging the Scottish Government to go further and faster with greater targeted action to help families with babies. Here are 3 key reasons why we must intervene and stop the harms of poverty as early as possible:
1. Poverty can impede crucial brain development
The first year of a baby’s life is crucial in developing foundational skills that are essential for learning all subsequent skills they need for life, like literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills. Despite parents’ best efforts to give their child the best start, evidence shows that poverty can prevent the brain developing fully. This is due to a number of factors such as a poorer at-home learning environment, lack of access to new enriching experiences, and lower-quality and diversity of food. The detrimental impact of poverty on development not only has effects in childhood but can impact on life-long outcomes such as poorer mental and physical health, lower earning potential and poorer quality relationships.
“The first year is the most important... That shouldn’t be restricted because of income.” (Parent in Scotland, August 2023)
If we prevented babies experiencing poverty, we could make sure every child gets to develop the right building blocks where they not only fully enjoy childhood but also go on to lead healthier and happier lives.
2. The poverty-related attainment gap starts in early childhood
It is critical to recognise that Scotland’s attainment gap between lower-income and higher-income pupils in both primary and secondary school stems from inequalities in the early years, including infancy. We know that young children from low-income households are already falling behind their better off peers long before they enter formal education. For children in Scotland in primary one, the percentage point gap between children living in the most and least deprived areas who achieved expected early levels of literacy is 20.5%. In simple terms this means that the attainment gap isn’t something that schools alone can tackle; children experiencing poverty start school already falling behind.
“It’s not fair on babies who have to miss out. It impacts their development.” (Parent in Scotland, August 2023)
Poorer development outcomes in the early years can mean children struggle to achieve their full potential throughout primary and secondary school. Thus, without additional help and support, children in poverty will struggle to ever ‘catch up’ with their better-off peers. That is why if we want to close the poverty-related attainment gap, and the consequent inequality in life-long outcomes, we must tackle poverty in the early years.
3. Parental stress can transfer to the baby
“I found having my first child really hard. I was employed but it wasn’t a great environment – there was no option to move so I had to take early maternity. By the time when she was 6 months old, I was on no pay. I ended up quitting my job. I simply couldn’t survive on maternity pay.” (Parent in Scotland, August 2023)
The stress that caregivers often experience due to their economic circumstances can transfer to their baby, meaning babies from lower-income households often present with higher levels of chronic stress than their better-off counterparts. This increased chronic stress can thwart brain development.
Parental mental health is vital in ensuring the wellbeing and development of babies. So, it is shocking that recent polling by Save the Children and Opium found that over 7 in 10 Scottish parents felt that their financial situation had negatively impacted their mental health or wellbeing. Parents cannot provide the care their baby needs to thrive if they are constantly worried about how they are going to pay the bills.
So, what can we do?
Of all forms of intervention to tackle and prevent child poverty, support in the earliest stages can have the biggest impact on improving outcomes. The earlier families are supported and helped to move out of poverty, the better. There is not only a moral imperative to do all that we can to give babies the best start in life, but a financial one: at time of tight budgets, targeting support at families with babies under the age of one represents the best investment becasue it is preventative spend and therefore cuts longer-term spend on public services.
We want to see the Scottish Government:
- Introduce a joined up strategic approach across portfolios (early years, social security and fair work as a minimum) to drive further progress to reduce child poverty in households with a baby under one;
- Ensure every new baby in Scotland grows up in a home where there is enough money, giving them the best start in life, including by working towards a minimum income guarantee for families with babies (and young children);
- Support families to make the best choices to enable them to balance caring for their baby and employment;
- Progress action on joining up services that combine financial support with practical and emotional family support that meets the need of all family types.
There is a narrow window to make sure all babies develop the right building blocks for a happy, healthy life; we must take all the necessary actions to ensure we get it right.
