Regional economic development, inclusive growth and child poverty in Scotland
Research on how local and regional economic development policies can contribute to reducing child poverty in Scotland.
Significantly reducing poverty boosts our economy but achieving it requires better wages and fair work. We will ensure that work provides a sustainable standard of living and a genuine route out of poverty.
Scottish Government (2022, p.14)[1]
1.1 Poverty and Scotland’s national economy
Delivering Economic Prosperity, Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation was launched in March 2022,[2] outlining five ‘bold new policy programmes for action’. One of these programmes was to
reorient our economy towards wellbeing and fair work, to deliver higher rates of employment and wage growth, to significantly reduce structural poverty, particularly child poverty, and improve health, cultural and social outcomes for disadvantaged families and communities.
Section six of the report was devoted to this theme of ‘a fairer and more equal society’, with the whole report including 56 explicit references to poverty (and often child poverty) across 22 of its pages. Understandably, references to poverty were most prevalent in section six, although poverty was mentioned in the scene-setting section on ‘Our future economy’[3], and all but one[4] of the other action-oriented sections on entrepreneurial people and culture[5], new market opportunities[6], and a skilled workforce[7]. Concerns with poverty are woven throughout Scotland’s latest vision for economic development, heralding a distinctive way of thinking at the national level. The research reported in this study considers the extent to which this new national vision for economic development reflects outcomes, practice, and positioning at the local level across Scotland.
1.2 Aims of this report
This report has two aims:
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Focus: to consider how ‘inclusive growth’ has been operationalised and applied at the regional and local level in in Scotland by examining the extent to which and how sub-national economic development partnerships address child poverty.
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Promising practice: to make practical contribution by highlighting examples of interesting economic development projects or policy processes and consider these may be adapted and applied across regional economic development partnerships, local authorities, Community Planning Partnerships, and other stakeholders.
1.3 Research that underpins the report
Three inter-related activities were undertaken to meet these aims:
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Review of thinking on the relationship between inclusive growth, local and regional economic development, and child poverty - drawing both on published evidence and interviews with key informants to summarise the existing evidence base and current theory.
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Key document analysis - a systematic review of the year 2 Local Child Poverty Action Reports (LCPARs) produced in 2020. It is a statutory duty under the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 for local authorities and health boards to produce an annual LCPAR. Each of these Reports was reviewed systematically to identify references to local economic development. A systematic review of City Region Deals documentation was simultaneously undertaken to identify references to child poverty.
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Case studies - interviews with stakeholders in three local authority areas (one ‘mainly rural’, one ‘urban with substantial rural areas’ and one ‘larger city’) to understand the extent to which the local economic ecosystems are focused on tackling child poverty.
Further information on each of these activities is included in Annexes to this report:
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Content analysis (Annex 1)
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Case study analyses (Annex 2)
1.4 Structure of this report
Following this Introduction, this report is organised into three substantive Chapters and a Conclusion:
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Inclusive economic development and child poverty - Chapter 2 summarizes the key themes from the relevant literature and key informant interviews.
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Child poverty and the economic regeneration agenda? - drawing on the content analyses and findings from case study interviews, Chapter 3 documents the extent to which there is a focus on child poverty in local and regional economic development work in Scotland
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Beyond the headline - Chapter 4 outlines the different ways in which child poverty was referred to in the case study interviewees
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Concluding thoughts - Chapter 5.
[1] Scottish Government (2022) Delivering Economic Prosperity. Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.
[2] Ibid.
[3] In the Delivering Economic Properity report, reducing poverty is presented as a key component of one of the three ambitions (a Fairer Scotland) (p.9), Tackling Child Poverty is identified as one of the existing plans with which the Economic Strategy aligns (p.10), poverty is identified as a structural challenge, which if addressed would boost productivity (p.11), reducing poverty is conceived as an outcome of a just transition (p.12), child poverty is proposed as one of the metrics of a new Wellbeing Economy Monitor (p.14) and there is a commitment to ensure that work is a route out of poverty (p.16).
[4] There is no explicit reference to poverty in the section of ‘Productive Businesses and Regions’, although even here there is consideration of Community Wealth Building (pp. 32,33,36), inclusive growth (p.32) and shifts in the way in which wealth is created and shared among people (p.34)
[5] Here, there was a commitment to create a world class entrepreneurial infrastructure, to set targets and focus on providing access to support programmes from the most under-represented groups (including the six priority groups at most risk of child poverty) (p.21).
[6] Here, the outcome of making a meaningful contribution to tackling child poverty is attributed to the regional Just Transition plans and forthcoming green industrial opportunities (p.25).
[7] Child poverty is identified as one of the long-standing regional inequalities that sit alongside regional variation in GVA per capita and productivity (p.32), with targeting more skills investment and support to working aged people in poverty identified as an action within the work programme to support and incentivise people and their employers (p.41). It is also acknowledged that reducing child poverty is inextricably linked to systematically addressing inactivity in Scotland’s labour market (p.42).
Contact
Email: Elizabeth.fraser@gov.scot
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