The new First Minister must double-down on action to ensure this is, once and for all, the last generation of children in Scotland to ever experience poverty
This week marks a key milestone in Scotland’s fight to end poverty as our new First Minister takes office. During his campaign, it has been heartening to hear Humza Yousaf MSP commit to action to tackle child poverty and say he will make it the defining mission of his leadership.
The scale of the challenge ahead demands nothing less, and our children have been waiting too long. They are the ones who endure the impact of poverty hour by hour, day to day, and week by week. It too often takes a tool on their development and wellbeing in childhood and beyond. Poverty is robbing too many children of their rights.
New figures published last week by the Scottish Government show that, despite significant action in recent years, a quarter of a million children in Scotland – almost 1 in 4 – are growing up in poverty. This is unacceptable and we mustn’t allow it to continue.
The Scottish Government aims to drive these numbers down by this time next year to fewer than 18% of children, and by 2030, to fewer than 1 in 10 children. The new statistics, though they don’t yet show the full impact of the Scottish Child Payment, show that we’re some way off those targets.
So let the new First Minister treat these numbers as a ‘wake-up call’ to back up ambition with action that makes a real difference to our youngest citizens. Delivering the mission to end child poverty is achievable by doubling-down on bold and progressive action.
Behind the Headlines
At 24% for another year, the statistics show no progress in reducing relative poverty in the last few years. For every child that makes up those numbers, child poverty staying ‘stable’ is not enough, and it shouldn’t be good enough for the new First Minister either.
It is also worrying that persistent poverty (more details on this are due on 31 March) seems to be increasing, since children’s outcomes are more likely to get worse the longer they live in poverty.
The topline figures disguise even higher rates of poverty for some families. Almost 2 in 5 (39%) children in minority ethnic families, and over a third of large families are growing up in poverty.
The release didn’t include figures for families with a baby under one or families with a mother under 25. The last time these figures were published a third of families with babies under one and over half (55%) of children with a young mum were living in poverty. This is especially worrying since a third of families with a mother under 25 have a baby in the household.
These figures are an important benchmark, but they only tell part of the story
The figures cover the period up to 2022 so they don’t reflect the scale of the impact that the cost of living crisis and rising prices have had on families.
We already know that too many families in Scotland are struggling to afford even the basics. Families we work with are cutting back on food, falling behind on their bills, using food and baby banks and taking on unmanageable debt just to make ends meet. Parents tell us they’re worried about the lasting scars these experiences could have on their children.
On the other hand, because there’s a time lag with the statistics, they don’t show the impact of the full roll out and increases to the Scottish Child Payment. We’ve seen firsthand and heard directly from parents how the payment makes a big difference to them. It’s a lifeline which helps parents pay for essentials like food and heating.
The benefits of this expansion should begin to show up in next year’s statistics and underlines the fact that increasing incomes through social security is the key to unlocking persistently high poverty levels.
Understanding the lived experience of families in real time is just as important and needs to sit alongside the numbers. Charities, foodbanks, community groups and others working alongside families see the reality day to day and play a key role in making sure all voices are heard.
But, overall, these figures are a stark reminder that reducing child poverty must continue to be the top priority for the new First Minister
The new First Minister inherits a big challenge, but they also inherit cross party support to meet the 2030 targets, good progress in key policy areas like social security, a movement of stakeholders ready with ideas and wanting to help and families who want to shape and make policy that works for them.
It’s crucial the new First Minister listens to a range of voices, including ‘ordinary Scots’ – children, young people and parents who know what works best to make their lives easier and better. He has said he wants to have ‘as big a tent as possible’ to develop new ideas and is committed to meeting with stakeholders to discuss tackling poverty as one of the first acts in his new role. This is welcome. It’s time to coalesce around the vision of a poverty-free Scotland and more importantly unite stakeholders to deliver the bold actions needed now.
We’re not starting from scratch. Action taken already has contributed to child poverty levels being lower in Scotland than other parts of the UK where there hasn’t been this leadership or cross-party consensus.
We’ve got good foundations that show how devolved powers can be used to make progress on tackling poverty – like the Child Poverty Act that sets the targets, the Scottish Child Payment, and in Best Start, Bright Futures (the Scottish Government’s action plan to tackle child poverty) a strong diagnosis of the struggle that many families face and, in many areas, the right understanding of where additional action is needed.
However, our analysis with JRF concluded that an even stronger prescription is needed to meet the diagnosis and we set out 50 recommendations to ensure action does not fall short of ambition.
The next few years need to be about taking bolder, bigger action to match the ambition and rhetoric – after all, actions speak louder than words. The changes that will be needed will require lasting change to our economy, our taxes and our public services so we need to bring the country with us.
As a first step we’re calling on the new First Minister to invest further in the Scottish Child Payment, boosting the value to at least £40 a week, delivering a minimum income guarantee for families with babies, as well as acting to get wages rising and tackle the exorbitant cost of childcare.
We want to see alongside a renewed commitment to ending child poverty and meeting the targets, delivery of incorporation of the UNCRC and a shift in emphasis to tackling the ‘attainment gap’ by driving down poverty and taking action in the early years.
The success of the First Minister will not just be measured on whether the child poverty targets are met, but also on whether we can build a society where every child gets the best start in life and every family can live with dignity.
My message to the New First Minister on tackling poverty is that now is the time for action and every second counts. As Nicola Sturgeon said in her final speech in Parliament “Never forget that every day in this office is an opportunity to make something better for someone, somewhere in Scotland”.
