Save the Children and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation are working together to understand public attitudes to child poverty in Scotland. Our project, Changing the Story, is using survey-based and qualitative research to generate new evidence about what the public think. We will use this evidence to build support for action to end child poverty in Scotland.
At the centre of Changing the Story, a group of parents and carers with lived experience of poverty are helping to inform and make sense of the research. In this blog series, they reflect on key findings from the research to highlight why we need to see bolder action to end child poverty.
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Ollu lives in Glasgow and is a single mum to three children, two of whom are disabled and require specialised care. While living on a low income, Ollu balances being a sole carer for her children with doing a master’s degree in social work. Many single parents experience challenges when accessing support, simply because it does not go far enough to address the barriers these families face.
“I’m finding that childcare is a nightmare. I can’t afford it and because of that, I’m having to skip classes which is going to impact my degree…I really want to have a good job; I want to have a better future. Especially because I’m a single mum.”
There are 240,000 children living in poverty in Scotland and a significant portion are in single parent families where someone is disabled. These families face compounding barriers which put them at a greater risk of experiencing financial insecurity. A lack of access to affordable childcare traps families in poverty and locks them out of the labour market. For parents of disabled children, further challenges arise when trying to access suitable care and the additional costs that come with it.
Like all parents, Ollu wants a better future for her children and wants to be part of creating that by becoming a social worker:
“My life experiences made me want to be a social worker. I decided to go into that to understand how the system actually works – I wanted to understand more about why things are the way they are.”
A lack of affordable, accessible childcare is a huge barrier for many single parents and many parents say that they would work more if there was more free childcare provision in Scotland.
This is not only popular with parents: it’s supported by the vast majority of the public. A national survey conducted as part of Changing the Story found that 79% of people in Scotland support of expanding access to flexible and high-quality childcare. This evidence points to the need for a childcare expansion that will help increase parental participation in the labour market and ensure greater security for low-income families.
“Government need to help so much more with childcare. It’s not going to be forever, it’s a short period of time where childcare costs need to be covered. You become a mature student because you want to make a difference – you want to make something better out of your life. It’s people like me that want to make a difference.”
Yet, support needs to extend much further to tackle child poverty in Scotland. Like many parents in Scotland, the system just isn’t working for Ollu and her family. She is worried about the cost of essentials, such as food, heating and transport and feels there is a lack of support from the government for families living on a low income. The public share this view; most survey respondents believed that the Scottish and UK governments should be responsible for tackling child poverty – but 77% of people think decision makers could be doing more. These findings emphasise strong support for bold government-led interventions.
High levels of child poverty in Scotland indicate that our social security is far from adequate. Ollu would like to see a social security system that provides a real safety net. Too many families like hers are being overlooked. It is vital that the Scottish and UK governments work together, within their respective powers, to make changes that address the scale of the issue. As Ollu says:
“It's about time government started putting itself in our shoes.”
