Aberlour’s response to the child poverty statistics

Today (Thursday 21st March 2024) the Scottish Government published the latest child poverty statistics. Read Aberlour CEO, SallyAnn Kelly OBE’s, response.

The latest poverty statistics show child poverty in Scotland is rising.

To describe child poverty as ‘broadly stable’ when 1 in 4 children are living in poverty is an absolute disgrace and fails to contextualise or understand the day-to-day experiences of families living in poverty.

Broadly stable will mean nothing to those families struggling to feed their children or heat their homes.

These figures tell us that despite the Scottish Child Payment the Scottish Government’s efforts to reduce child poverty are failing.

And there is no comfort from choices made in the most recent Scottish Budget which included spending decisions that offer nothing to reduce child poverty in the year ahead.

The Scottish Government’s interim targets will now likely not be met, and we are deeply concerned that the statutory child poverty targets for 2030 will also be missed.

It is clear that the Scottish Government must now make different political choices and these choices need to sit at the forefront of political decision making in Scotland.

This means increasing the value of the Scottish Child Payment.

This means investment in vital services that support all families across Scotland that need extra help.

This means tackling the debt crisis that is trapping so many families in poverty.

This means building enough social housing to ensure safe, secure and affordable homes for all families.

Only by making such choices will we begin to make headway on tackling the scourge of child poverty in Scotland.

SallyAnn Kelly OBE

Aberlour CEO