Latest figures show failure to tackle child poverty
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 27th March 2024.
New data from the UK Government shows that 100,000 more children were pulled into relative poverty in a single year across the UK, with inflation and the cost-of-living crisis biting.
That increase means there are now 4.3 million children living in relative poverty after housing costs - 30% of all children in the UK.
Organisations from across the sector reacted strongly to the figures. Child Poverty Action Group called it “a betrayal of Britain’s children”. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said that the “Government failed to protect the most vulnerable from the cost-of-living crisis”.
In Scotland, the government published its 2020-23 poverty report showing little progress towards reducing child poverty. On average over three years 24% of all children - 240,000 - were living in relative poverty after housing costs. That increases to 26% when looking at figures for 2022-23.
The Scottish Government has set its own target of a 10% child poverty rate by 2030, and an interim target of 18% when this year's figure are published in 12 months’ time.
The Poverty Alliance continued its call for the Scottish Child Payment to be increased to £40 a week, noting that “in the last budget the Scottish Government didn’t even raise it to £30” and that “the policy package and investment on child poverty is not yet in place to drive progress towards the targets.”
Save the Children commented that: "There are 240,000 children locked in poverty across Scotland and that shames us all."
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