Poverty and social justice

Child poverty

Around one in four children in Scotland lives in poverty. 

This is unacceptable, and why our top priority is to eradicate child poverty. 

Eradicating child poverty: our approach 

The main ways we can help improve the lives of low-incomes families are by: 

• helping people into fair, well-paid jobs 

• supporting people with the cost of living 

• increasing awareness and uptake of social security benefits 

Where support is being targeted 

Some families are at higher risk of poverty. Our action to tackle poverty targets the following six family types: 

• lone parent families 

• minority ethnic families 

• families with a disabled adult or child 

• families with a mother aged under 25 

• families with a child under one 

• families with 3 or more children 

Action to eradicate child poverty 

We are working across many areas of government to support low-income families to eradicate child poverty. This includes:  

• the Scottish Child Payment to help low-income families with children under 16  

• expanding access to childcare services to support low-income parents into work 

• the Child Poverty Accelerator Fund which provides grants to projects to test new ways of tackling the root causes of child poverty 

• widening eligibility for Best Start Foods, which helps low-income families access nutritious food 

• providing free bus travel to children and young people 

Child poverty targets 

We have set legal targets to reduce child poverty in Scotland. Our targets are that by 2030 less than:  

• 10% of children are in relative poverty 

• 5% of children are in absolute poverty 

• 5% of children are in combined low income and material deprivation  

• 5% of children are in persistent poverty 

All four measures are based on the income left to a household after housing costs. 

Read more about the above definitions of poverty at the data.gov.scot website. 

Measuring progress 

We publish child poverty delivery plans and progress reports, to update on what we are doing to tackle child poverty. 

Local councils and health boards must also report yearly on their work to reduce poverty. We have published guidance to help councils and health boards develop child poverty action reports. 

Read local child poverty action reports and other support materials at the Improvement Service website. 

We set up the independent Poverty and Inequality Commission which monitors progress and provides us with advice on poverty and inequality. 

See: statistics, research and analysis relating to child poverty 

Legislation 

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 sets out targets to reduce the proportion of children in poverty by 2030, as described above.