New official data confirms child poverty is falling in Scotland

"Investing in social security is working to reduce poverty" say campaigners, "but more will be needed to make progress toward 2030 targets"

New official government data published today confirms child poverty is falling in Scotland. The number of children in poverty in Scotland fell from 25% between 2020-2023 to 21% in 2022 to 2025. Across the UK as a whole 27% of children were still living in poverty in 2024/25.

Commenting on the new statistics John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland said:

"These official statistics are a welcome confirmation that Scottish government policies, especially the Scottish child payment, have been working to reduce and prevent child poverty. But they are also a stark reminder of how much more is needed to meet the child poverty targets set by all Scotland's parties when they unanimously passed the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act in 2017.

“One in five of our children are still locked in poverty and there is a very real risk progress will stall. It is now vital that all Scotland's political parties set out how they will ensure that child poverty falls each and every year the next Parliament sits.”

Mr. Dickie continued;

“Behind these statistics are children who are being robbed of opportunities and life chances, and parents who are struggling to put food on the table, pay the bills and stay out of debt. Recent progress in Scotland shows there is nothing inevitable about this. That is why along with other members of End Child Poverty in Scotland we are calling on those seeking election in May to set out how they would accelerate the progress.”

In calculating today’s poverty statistics, changes have been made to the way UK and Scottish child poverty statistics are produced. Administrative DWP data has been used to capture household incomes more accurately.  This has resulted in a revision downwards of the total number of children in poverty:

Last year, using the previous methodology, the DWP reported that across the UK 4.5 million children were in poverty in the year April 2023 to March 2024.  Today,  using the new methodology, it reports 4 million for 2024/25.

For further comment and background contact John Dickie, Director of CPAG in Scotland on 07795 340 618

Notes to editors:

  • Today’s UK Households Below Average Income statistics are HERE
  • Today’s Scottish Government Poverty and Inequality statistics are HERE
  • End Child Poverty members in Scotland’s manifesto can be found HERE
  • The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires Scottish Ministers to ensure less than 10% of children are living in poverty by 2030/31.
  • Changes have been made to the way UK and Scottish child poverty statistics are produced. While the figures are based on household survey data as usual, administrative DWP data has been used to capture household incomes more accurately.   In effect, survey data has been cross-checked against government’s administrative data and adjustments made.   UK wide around £40bn of benefits is underreported and an estimated one third of this relates to families with children (source: CPAG’s calculations from A Corlett, Improving our understanding of UK poverty will require better data, Resolution Foundation, 2021).
  • Whilst administrative data on devolved Scottish social security benefits has not been linked at this stage, steps have been taken to marry up the survey data on Scottish disability benefits more closely to known caseloads, and an agreed ‘imputation methodology’ for the Scottish Child Payment has been implemented. (See this Scottish Government blog for more details)
  • The changes are the first step in a process and this year the Scottish government statistics are designated as 'official statistics in development'  rather than 'accredited official statistics'
  • CPAG’s short Briefing on the effects of the new data collection methodology is HERE
  • Today’s HBAI report for the first time includes child poverty statistics for each local authority area.
  • The two-child limit will be abolished from April 2026. The effect of the abolition on child poverty levels will not show up in official statistics until the Spring 2028 edition of HBAI which will cover the period from April 2026-March 2027.