“Child poverty action must be ratcheted up to meet targets and protect children” say campaigners

Child poverty campaigners respond to latest child progress reports from Scottish Government and independent Poverty and Inequality Commission.

  • First Minister urged to, “at the very least”, deliver on campaign commitment to increase Scottish child payment to £30. 
  • Scottish government forecasts nine percentage point reduction in child poverty as result of current policy package – “We are seeing very real and substantial progress but it’s not yet enough to meet targets” say campaigners.
  • “Scale and pace of action must be ratcheted up to protect children and meet statutory targets.”

John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, on Tues 13 June, responded to the publication of the Scottish Government’s fifth Annual Tackling Child Poverty Progress Report and the Poverty and Inequality Commission independent scrutiny report. The annual report is a statutory requirement under the 2017 Child Poverty (Scotland) Act and sets out the progress made towards meeting legally binding child poverty targets. The Act requires Scottish Ministers to consult the Commission in preparing its report. 

Mr Dickie said:

“We are seeing very real and substantial progress on child poverty but today’s reports are clear that progress is not yet enough to meet statutory child poverty targets. It’s now clearer than ever that the scale and pace of action needs to be ratcheted up. Every child left in poverty for another year is a child whose life chances, education and health are undermined, and all because their families just don’t have the income they need to give their children a decent start in life. 

 

The new First Minister must now act on the ambition he expressed at last month’s Anti-Poverty Summit and bring forward concrete policies to substantially boost social security, childcare and affordable family housing. But we also need his government to use every tool at its disposal to drive a transformation in our labour market so that all parents have access to decent, family friendly jobs.”

Referring to the First Ministers commitment during the SNP leadership campaign to increase the Scottish child payment to £30 in his first Budget, Mr Dickie continued:

“The £25 per week Scottish child payment is playing a huge role supporting hard up families and reducing child poverty, but it is losing real terms value by the day. That’s why we need to see the First Minister act on his campaign commitment to increase the payment to £30. Looking ahead independent analysis suggests an increase to at least £40 in this parliament will be needed to help meet child poverty targets.”

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires Scottish Ministers to ensure less than 18% of children are living in poverty by 2023/24 and less than 10% of children are living in poverty by 2030. The latest official statistics (for 2021/22) show that 24% of children (250 000 children) were living in poverty in Scotland. 

Notes for editors