By Shona Stephen, Chief executive, Queens Cross Housing Association

AS the Scottish Government’s Year of the Young Person gets under way, our latest tenants’ survey has unveiled some sobering evidence of the scale of the task that faces every agency responsible for ensuring our young people have the best possible start in life.

With a 70 per cent return rate from eligible households among our 4,300 tenancies, the survey has given us a comprehensive and accurate snapshot of the real issues impacting our 8,000-plus residents in the northwest of Glasgow.

The results are a wake-up call about how much work needs to be done and how much poverty, particularly child poverty, continues to blight a significant number of our families.

We have known anecdotally from our staff working on the ground that high levels of poverty are still a significant factor in keeping people from fulfilling their own and their children’s potential. But now these survey figures reinforce what we see and deal with every day; the unacceptable impact that poverty has on people’s lives here. How it holds people back and consigns them to a life of uncertainty and stigma.

A child born into poverty is much more likely to remain in poverty and their children too. It becomes an accepted part of life.

This is a cycle of deprivation and limited life chances that we as a housing association are determined to help break.

Although there were some bright spots in the data, such as more tenants in work, 20 per cent as opposed to 15 per cent three years ago, 41 per cent of our tenants said they still relied on benefits for the majority of their income.

Of tenants surveyed, 19 per cent said that at some point they had chosen to miss a meal or eat less because of a lack of money and nearly half told us that their income did not always cover their monthly expenses. In relation to children in particular, 18 per cent of families said have had to put off buying children’s shoes and 35 per cent of tenants said that at some time they had chosen not to put the heating on because of fears over costs.

A cold, hungry child is not going to be motivated to learn, to get qualified and to break the poverty cycle.

The Government’s new Child Poverty (Scotland) Act is at last recognition that this is a real issue impacting our communities.

They have also identified local stakeholders, like housing associations, as being in a crucial position to help do something about it.

By helping to keep rents low and providing energy-efficient homes we can take two real steps to put money back in people’s pockets. We can advise on money matters so tenants are making the most of the money they have and help them get what they are entitled to.

We can also improve people’s life chances by providing help, advice and skills training to get young people get into work. The role of a housing association is now about far more than simply putting a secure roof over someone’s head.

The results of this survey show that in modern Scotland poverty, real poverty, is still a reality for too many people. It should not be acceptable in this country in the 21st century.

Yes, local and national government, social landlords, health, third sector, and communities themselves, are all working together to tackle it but its causes are complex.

We now have a real picture of what it looks like in our community and are pledged to do what we can, but time is running out for many people.