Child poverty strategy: annual report, 2016

1. Introduction

Scottish Ministers published the revised Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland in March 2014, which builds upon the original Strategy published in 2011. This document is the third annual report that relates to the revised Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland (2014), and the sixth annual report in relation to the first Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland, published in 2011.

Chapter 2 details progress, both before and after housing costs, against the four income-based measures that formed the basis of the Child Poverty Act 2010 targets. These are the same measures that the Scottish Government proposes to base the new Child Poverty Bill targets on.

Chapters 3- 5 report progress in relation to the Child Poverty Measurement Framework For Scotland. The measurement framework, which was set out in the 2014 annual report, consists of a wide set of indicators intended to help government, the Scottish Parliament, and stakeholders monitor progress against the outcomes over time. The measurement framework is structured around three key outcomes, and chapters 3- 5 of this report each cover one of the outcomes:

Chapter 3 - Pockets: Maximising financial resources of families on low incomes

Chapter 4 - Prospects: Improved life chances of children in poverty

Chapter 5 - Places: Children from low income households live in well-designed, sustainable places

For each key outcome, there are a number of 'intermediate outcomes', and each intermediate outcome has one or more associated indicators. Chapters 3- 5 present the most recent figures for each indicator (usually from 2015 or 2014), compare them to the baseline published in the 2014 annual report, and set them within the context of longer-term trends, where possible.

The Annex provides more detail on the methods used, including data sources and source years.