We all want to live in a society where children have the best start in life.
In Scotland, there has been real investment in children experiencing poverty in recent years: in funded early learning and childcare, the Baby Box, Best Start Grants and the Scottish Child Payment, to name a few. And we have been told that “reducing poverty and inequality will be central” to next week’s Scottish Budget.
It certainly needs to be. Even with existing policies, we know that record numbers of families are struggling to meet their basic needs. Progress has been made but it’s simply not enough for families across the country. Already this year, the Trussel Trust has provided emergency food to 10,200 families with children in Scotland, reaching a total of 20,900 children. These numbers are increasing year-on-year, and it is children who are paying the price of poverty.
These heartbreaking figures point to the fact that something much more radical is required to sustainably reduce child poverty in Scotland. We need to tackle the systemic issues that have got us here, so that we are not just lifting children out of poverty but preventing them falling into poverty in the first place.
At Save the Children, we are working with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to do just that. Funded by The Robertson Trust, we are starting out on an ambitious project to understand and build support for lasting solutions to end child poverty.
We know that this can only be achieved with strong evidence of public support. So, our starting point is conducting research to find out what people really think about child poverty in Scotland. We’ll run a national survey and bring together a citizens’ panel to explore in more depth what we can do as a society to give every child in Scotland the childhood they deserve. Through this, we hope to identify the policy changes that enjoy broad public support and could make a big difference in driving down child poverty. We’ll then use all of this evidence and the insights from a panel of parents with lived experience to craft new stories and messages.
Ultimately, our goal is to change the conversation about child poverty in Scotland so that decision makers have the confidence and evidence to make the policy changes that are needed.
In doing this, we know that we are building on the brilliant work that others have done to develop evidence-based narratives about poverty. We also know that we cannot do this on our own. Changing the story about child poverty in Scotland is going to take a broad coalition of communities, campaigners, journalists and politicians who are passionate about creating a Scotland that’s truly the best place to grow up. This is where you come in…
As part of this project, we want to build a community of practice to (1) hear about new findings on public opinion (2) reflect on narratives about child poverty in Scotland (3) act as champions of a new framing toolkit. In early 2024, we will arrange our first (online) meeting. If you think that this is something you might want to be part of, get in touch with us at infoscotland@savethechildren.org.uk to join our project mailing list.
Today, one in every four children is growing up in poverty in Scotland. This is simply not acceptable. Together, we can change the story about child poverty in Scotland.
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