Child poverty must be ‘front and centre’ of Holyrood manifestos, says charity

Parties must put reducing child poverty “front and centre of their manifestos” at the Holyrood elections, the director of a poverty charity has said.

With 100 days until the Holyrood election the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) released a new report which shows that in 2023/24, 20% of people in Scotland were living in poverty.

The UK Poverty 2026 report shows this figure was lower than for England and Wales at 22%, but higher than Northern Ireland at 17%.

Research found poverty rates in Scotland are kept down by relatively low housing costs and higher rates of social renting.

However, it also revealed that Scotland has one of the highest proportions of workless households, while people who are working tend to earn less.

The Scottish figure was also down one percentage point from the previous year, but still above typical levels pre-pandemic of 18% to 19%.

Chris Birt, Joseph Rowntree Foundation associate director for Scotland said people across the country are “facing real hardship”.

He said: “Scotland’s child poverty rate continues to be below the levels seen in England and Wales, but with nearly one in four children still experiencing such hardship, there is so much more to do.

“People across the country are facing real hardship, struggling to put food on the table and keep the heating on, and this insecurity is driving political disaffection.”

Child poverty in Scotland was also found to be the lowest in the UK at 23%, compared to 31% in both England and Wales and 24% in Northern Ireland.

The report also suggested that the Scottish Child Payment is helping to protect families from food insecurity.

Mr Birt continued: “We do see decisions being taken in Scotland such as the Scottish Child Payment appearing to be making an impact, which is welcome, but we must aspire to more.

“With just 100 days until the Holyrood election the clock is ticking for Scotland’s politicians to commit to bold and radical action, which is urgently needed to tackle poverty head-on.

“All parties must put reducing child poverty front and centre of their manifestos, and seize the opportunity to improve the lives of all Scotland’s children by setting out action at the scale and ambition necessary to build a better future.”

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Eradicating child poverty is this Government’s driving mission and that’s why the draft Scottish Budget places tackling child poverty front and centre. We are extending universal breakfast clubs for primary school-aged children, while introducing more after school clubs and boosting household incomes.

“These are just some of the policies that guarantee Scotland has the strongest cost-of-living package in the UK. The Scottish Child Payment is only available in Scotland and due to support more than 330,000 children this year. As this report notes, it’s making a big difference. But we’ve gone a step further by increasing support for Scotland’s newest parents with a premium top-up to the benefit for parents with kids under one.

“Elsewhere, the baby box and best start payments are helping children have the best start in life and family nurse partnerships are ensuring the youngest parents get help where they need it, when they need it.

“This report also highlights the need for the UK Government to match our action and ambition, including by scrapping the benefit cap, delivering further progress toward an essentials guarantee, and uprating local housing allowance so it covers the bottom 30% of rents in a given area as an absolute minimum.”