Blog: Challenge Poverty Week 2022

Today (Monday 3rd October 2022) marks the start of challenge poverty week. In her latest blog our CEO, SallyAnn Kelly, discusses how we must support ‘frightened’ families in Scotland to ‘thrive not just survive’ during this ‘tsunami of spiralling bills, soaring food prices and skyrocketing energy costs.’

“It’s impossible to escape the cost of living crisis.

It is a real and immediate worry for us all.

However, the reality for families on the lowest incomes is that they have been living through a cost of living crisis for years.

For more than a decade the impact of austerity and dismantling of the social security safety net has contributed to rising poverty and created ever greater need.

But now, as current financial pressures have started to affect everyone, what was a crisis has become a full-blown catastrophe for the poorest families.

At Aberlour families we work with are frightened.

Many are on their knees and simply can’t take any more.

Previously families had to make the difficult choice between heating or eating, but that is no longer a choice they can make.

Many families now can’t afford to do either.

Household incomes are simply inadequate, and more and more families are relying on foodbanks and charities to help them feed and clothe their children.

Along with a multitude of campaigners and other charities we have urged the government to help those most affected by the tsunami of spiralling bills, soaring food prices and skyrocketing energy costs.

Last month the Scottish Government outlined its plan to tackle the cost of living, including welcome support for low income families by increasing the Scottish Child Payment, extending free school meals and a rent freeze.

However, despite the UK Government capping the cost of energy, in reality this is still a price rise and has left those on the lowest incomes anxious about how they will pay their energy bills.

At Aberlour we are seeing more and more families burdened with unmanageable debt as they struggle to cope.

Families tell us they simply can’t absorb any more costs as they fall deeper into debt trying to make ends meet.

In the overwhelming majority of cases it’s not about debt from credit cards or bank loans.  In most cases this is debt to public bodies such as council tax, housing arrears and even school meal debt.

Debts to local authorities and the DWP are the most common types of debts for low income families.

Earlier this year Aberlour published research on school meal debt owed by low income families not eligible for free school meals.

We found that more than £1m in school meal debt is owed by families across Scotland.

But this is just a tiny fraction of the overall level of debt that families face.

Tens of thousands of families across Scotland who rely on benefits are having these debts recovered directly from their benefit payments, meaning an immediate reduction to their already low incomes and leaving them with even less to live on.

The result is more and more families becoming destitute as they have nothing left to cover the essentials.

One parent told us: “I feel like I’m doing the right thing. I’m honest and I’m working as hard as I can in my job but it’s still not enough. When I didn’t work…we struggled. Now I work, and we still struggle. So, what am I meant to do?”

We must think differently and compassionately about how we respond to families who find themselves in these desperate situations.

Polling Aberlour recently commissioned tells us that nearly 70% of people in Scotland agree it is unacceptable that families can’t feed or clothe their children due to debts they owe to public bodies.

It isn’t in anyone’s interest to plunge struggling families further into financial distress when the very authorities’ money is owed to could instead proactively help and support families.

Responding to this emerging debt crisis and reducing the debt burden on families that is trapping many in poverty must be a priority for the Scottish Government.

Let’s help families by resetting their finances and getting them back on an even keel.

By putting more money in their pockets, we can make sure families have what they need to live.

By removing the stress and alleviating the financial burden of debt on families we can give them hope for the future.

That is how we can help struggling families to navigate the current financial storm and support them not just to survive but to thrive.”

SallyAnn Kelly OBE

CEO of Aberlour Children’s Charity

This article was written for The Scottish Sun and published on Monday 3rd October 2022. Read the article on The Scottish Sun website here.