Having a parent addicted to drugs or alcohol is the most important factor in determining child poverty, a UK Government-commissioned poll suggests.
The survey will be highlighted by Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, in a speech on the subject when he will argue that for too long governments have chased income-based poverty targets.
“We need to focus on life change, so that families are able to sustain the improvement in their lives beyond government money. This is nowhere better illustrated than in families suffering parental addiction.”
The poll shows 90% of respondents said the most important factor determining child poverty was having a parent addicted to drugs or alcohol; 81% said living in a damp or cold home; 80% said having to care for a parent; 79% said not having enough money; 68% said family breakdown and 64% said a failing school.
The Secretary of State said: “For a poor family where the parents are suffering from addiction, giving them an extra pound in benefits might officially move them over the poverty line but increased income from welfare transfers will not address the reason they find themselves in difficulty in the first place.”
Relative poverty is defined as 60% of the median income.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article