Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022-2026 - annex 6: what works - evidence review

Introduction

Tackling child poverty is one of the Scottish Government's national missions. The second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan lines up the route to achieving both the interim (2023) and final targets (2030).

Almost a quarter (24%) of children in Scotland, or 240,000 children each year, were living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2017-20. The target for relative child poverty is to reduce it to 18% by 2023 and to 10% by 2030.

However, the impact of the pandemic is still unknown. Furthermore, the wider economic outlook is uncertain and the situation in Ukraine is likely to result in economic growth being slower than it would otherwise have been.^[1] Typical incomes will fall most significantly at the lower end of the income distribution, having a negative effect on poverty following the COVID-19 years.^[2]

In a context where many families continue to face significant challenges due to poverty, the aim of this publication is to summarise the latest evidence on what works in tackling child poverty. This document complements previous progress reports, policy evaluations, child poverty statistics and learnings from internal and external engagement with a range of stakeholders leading up to the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan (2022–2026).