Child poverty rises across Scotland as campaigners demand Universal Credit payment boost

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The scale of child poverty in Scotland has been exposed in scandalous new figures showing a rise almost everywhere in the past five years. Only one council area managed to improve by just less than one percent while the rest of the country saw young people fall further behind.

Nearly one in three children in Glasgow were classed as living in poverty after housing costs in the most recent study, the highest proportion in Scotland. Campaigners demanded the UK Government commits to keeping the £20 emergency increase in Universal Credit benefits, introduced at the start of the covid-19 crisis. They want an end to the benefit cap and two-child limit, and an increase to child benefits.

The coalition also wants more from the Scottish Government who are under pressure to introduce a higher child payment ahead of schedule.

Child poverty is defined by people living below 60% of median income after housing costs. The new research, carried by Loughborough University, shows even before the pandemic child poverty ranged from one in seven children in Shetland to one in three in Glasgow. In both council areas the problem has got worse between 2014-15 and 2018-19, the timescale covered by the university study. The worst levels were 31.8% in Glasgow, 28.3% in North Ayrshire, 27.4% in West Dunbartonshire, 27.9% in East Ayrshire and 27.3% in Dundee. The biggest increase over the period was 4.8 percentage points in Glasgow, followed by 3 points in North Ayrshire. The only council area to register an improvement was East Renfrewshire, but by just 0.2 percentage points over the period. The research shows parts of London and Birmingham dominate a wider list of UK local authorities where child poverty is highest.

John Dickie, of the End Child Poverty coalition said, the Prime Minister must urgently face up to the true extent of child poverty across the UK rather than resorting to his own inaccurate statistics. An ambitious plan to put this shameful situation right would be transformational for millions of children in Scotland and across the UK. As a matter of urgency we are calling on the Chancellor not to go ahead with planned cuts to Universal Credit which would see families lose out on £1000 a year. Given today's data, this cut is unconscionable.

Dickie said. here in Scotland the Holyrood government's child poverty delivery plan and prioritisation of the new Scottish child payment are hugely welcome. But these new figures highlight the importance of keeping housing costs affordable, the importance of reviewing the value of the Scottish child payment and the urgent need to use existing payment mechanisms, like local authority school clothing grants, to provide extra financial support to families right now.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said they are tackling child poverty head on including a £10 child payment due in February. The Scottish Government also said it is spending £350 million on support during the pandemic.