Politicians must 'rebuild trust' on child poverty targets

The report calls for the Scottish Child Payment to be increased to £40 per week for each child and warns a new fund must be introduced to support families with babies.

Holyrood committed to targets in 2017 to reduce relative child poverty to under 10% and absolute to less than 5% by 2030.

But interim targets of 18% and 14% were missed in 2023, with around one in four children still locked in poverty.

"Right now we are not on track," the report warns, adding: "It's no wonder that so many people feel let down by politicians."

Data from Save the Children revealed that almost three quarters (76%) of Scots were worried about the country's poverty levels.

The report warns: “Politicians can and must rebuild trust by acting on the things that matter most to people, like the future we create for our children.

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“The next 12 months will be critical in determining whether the Scottish Parliament is able to meet the commitment it made to reduce child poverty. It’s time to build a future where there are no limits to childhood.”

The Scottish Child Payment, currently at £27.15, has been hailed as game-changing, but anti-poverty charities warn it does not go far enough.

Modelling from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggested increasing it to £40 per week could cost £261 million, while lifting tens of thousands of children out of poverty.

Save the Children was one of 23 leading charities to back The Herald's child poverty campaign, launched in April. It called for the Scottish Child Payment to be increased to £40 and urged the Prime Minister to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The Save the Children report also revealed that families with a baby, a disabled person in the household, minority groups or single-parent families make up the majority of children in poverty.

It warned that efforts to meet the 2030 targets will "not be credible" or "possible" without targeted support for these groups.

“Things just aren’t working for too many people in Scotland,” the report warned.

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“It’s appalling that almost one in every four children is growing up in poverty. The public wants to see change and we know that this is possible.”

It added: “Right now, people are not optimistic about change. They feel let down by decision makers, and faltering on child poverty will only exacerbate this."

Claire Telfer, head of Scotland at Save the Children, told The Herald: "We've made welcome progress on child poverty in recent years, but families across Scotland are still struggling.

"A combination of high costs, low-pay and insufficient social security means that too many families just can't make ends meet. This has left many feeling overlooked by politicians.

"By taking real action on the things that matter to children and families, like taking the bold steps needed to meet the 2030 child poverty targets, politicians can begin to deliver better childhoods and a better future for Scotland and rebuild trust in politics.

"This means taking strong action to boost family incomes, and to ensure families can access high quality services - the two must go hand in hand to unlock better childhoods and create a happier, more prosperous Scotland.

"Meeting the 2030 targets is about unlocking better childhoods, and a happier and more prosperous Scotland. We can't accept anything less for children and for our shared future."

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Our top priority is to eradicate child poverty and Scotland is the only part of the UK where relative child poverty rates fell in the last year.

“Policies like the Scottish Child Payment are critical to our mission, helping parents to give their kids the best start in life while providing the essentials, like clothes and healthy meals. This is, in part, why relative child poverty rates are at their lowest in nearly a decade.

“If the UK Government fails to urgently scrap the punitive two-child limit on benefits, and the damaging benefits cap, we’ll go further by mitigating the UK’s two-child limit, a policy that pulls 109 children into poverty every day. That’s on top of the mitigation we already provide for the benefits cap.

“Elsewhere, we recognise that parents want to work but that the cost of childcare can act as a barrier to employment. That’s why families can access more than £6,000 in early learning and childcare support for each eligible child.”