Poverty in families with children now lower in Scotland than England, new study shows

An authoritative new report has found that poverty among families with children is lower in Scotland than it is in England. The study by the Social Metrics Commission (SMC) released this month found that 26% of couples with children are in poverty in England, while in Scotland the figure is 23%. In England, more than half of lone parents, 54%, are in poverty whereas in Scotland it is 48%.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government announced this week that it has paid out more than £1 billion in extra benefits to help lift children out of poverty. These Scottish payments are made to every child in the family. 

In contrast, the UK Government’s two-child benefits cap is paid to only the oldest two children,  pushing many families into poverty. The Child Poverty Action Group has calculated that this measure, which affects children born after 2017, has pushed 10,000 children into poverty so far. 

Child poverty in the UK is rising up the international league tables and it is now much higher than in comparable European countries. Scots can look at other similar-sized countries, many without Scotland’s wealth of natural resources, and be confident that under independence, Scotland would be able to do much more to end the kind of deep poverty which damages children’s life chances. 

A  historic turnaround

Scotland’s progress on child poverty is a turnaround of historic significance. Twenty years ago, Scotland had significantly higher rates of child poverty than England  - it tracked with the poorest areas of the British Isles.

But now it tracks with the south of England, the most prosperous part. Drilling down into the detail the Social Metrics Commission has found poverty in Scottish families is lower. It also shows overall Scotland’s child poverty rates are at least stable in the face of ongoing challenges such as the extortionate prices Scots have to pay for energy, while in England and Wales they are rising. According to the SMC, in the poorest area of England, the North West, 42% of children are now living in poverty, in the south east it is 29% and the overall figure for the UK is 36%. The report concluded that poverty rates in Scotland are now lower than the UK average. 

What are Scotland’s unique child support payments?

The latest statistics released from Social Security Scotland reveal that between February 2021 and September 202, £905.6 million has been paid out in Scottish Child Payment and a further £172.3 million since the launch of Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods.

The combined value of this vital financial support is over £1 billion and has been delivered by Social Security Scotland through its five family payments; Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment, Best Start Grant School Age Payment, Best Start Foods.

The payments, which are only available to families living in Scotland, support children from pregnancy and birth to starting school and on to age 16.

The Trussel Trust has estimated that these payments are reducing foodbank use among these families in Scotland, at least somewhat.

International comparisons on child poverty

A report from UNICEF provided us with comparable child poverty statistics for most advanced economies. It showed the rapid progress the UK has made in terms of child poverty - in the wrong direction. With a rise of 20% in a decade, the UK is doing twice as badly on this metric as any other country in the report. 

The UK has zoomed in the wrong direction

Over the last decade, the UK has shot into the red with a 20% rise in the number of children living in poverty. It is very far below any of the other 39 countries which feature in the UNICEF report. The next worst country is Iceland with a rise of 11% in the rate - about half what the UK has let slip.  

At the other end of the table, Poland has reduced child poverty by nearly 40%. Also pushing into the green are Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania who have all reduced child poverty by almost one third. 

Not only has the UK surpassed every other country with the speed of change but in absolute terms it is also far below many countries that are less wealthy. 

One in 10 children are in poverty in Denmark - nearly one in three in the UK

In many of the Scandinavian countries that have comparable geography and population size to Scotland, about one in ten children live in poverty. Denmark is at the top of the list at just under one in ten. 

Around 14 in every 100 children in Ireland, Poland and Estonia are condemned to a life below the poverty line - these countries have all made progress in recent years. 

Wealthy countries like Germany, Belgium and Canada have an absolute rate of child poverty between 15 and 17%. In the UK, the most recent figures from the Social Metrics Commission show it is around 36%. 

Britain ranked 37th out of the 39 nations in the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) based on a measure combining income poverty rate for children and the country’s success in reducing child poverty in a time of growing prosperity. 

Scotland’s child poverty rate is lower - but it is still too high

The Social Metrics Commission report confirms what other recent research has shown. In its annual report: “UK Poverty 2024: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK”, the Joseph Rowntree Trust, using a slightly different measure,  found that Scotland has a lower rate of overall poverty (24 per cent) than England (31 per cent) and Wales (28 per cent).

The JRT found Scotland has seen the largest fall in poverty of any area in the UK - six percentage points below where it was 20 years ago. The report praised the Scottish Government’s move to limit rent increases and the Scottish Child Payment scheme, whereby poorer households receive £26.70 a week for each child under 16.  

Conclusion: An independent Scotland could do better

Poverty is still affecting too many children and families in Scotland. Compared to other wealthy countries, UK families are struggling more than most,  although the UK is a relatively wealthy country. Many Scots have been disappointed by the current UK government’s determination to keep the damaging two child cap in place that discriminates against children in larger families.

But Scotland can only partially mitigate that. It doesn’t hold the levers of power but has to sit and wait for its funding to be determined as a consequence of policies that England votes for. The decisions made are not based on what Scotland needs or what her people vote for. They are ‘consequentials’ of what another country chooses.

The UK has not put in place policies to help children. Scots see other small independent countries like Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and even Slovenia doing better. These countries are nowhere near as rich as Scotland in terms of natural resources - but they are managing to improve the situation of their youngest citizens using the powers of independence.

The appalling rates of child poverty in the UK are the result of choices. They are choices Scotland’s people did not make. An independent Scotland will be free to make different ones and to learn from the example of other nations which are tackling child poverty.