A children’s charity has called on parties to no longer ‘tolerate’ child poverty and commit to tackling the issue ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.
Aberlour, a charity based in Stirling but who operate support services across Scotland, provide help for children born into disadvantage as well as their families.
Under three months aways from the Scottish Parliament elections, they are calling for politicians to go "further and faster" in their commitments to tackle child poverty.
Aberlour chief executive Justina Murray said: “Child poverty does not have to be something that our country simply has to tolerate.
“Our politicians can go further and faster but that will require greater commitment, more financial support for families, and the ambition to ensure they are not only lifted out of poverty but lifted out for good.”
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According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, one in four children in Scotland live in poverty, while one in 10 people are in very deep poverty with incomes below 40% of the median.
The call comes following The Herald’s campaign in 2025, Scotland’s Forgotten Children, which advocated for the Scottish Child Payment to be raised to £40 per week and was supported by 23 leading anti-poverty charities.
A legally-binding target to reduce relative poverty among children to 10% and absolute poverty to 5% by 2030 has been set by the Scottish Government.
The Herald previously reported that time was running out for the government to meet its goal of lifting 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the decade, as campaigners warned that the January budget was the last chance for radical measures to tackle the issue to be introduced.
Murray said every policy intended to support young people and safeguard their futures must be driven by the ambition of “ending child poverty, not merely managing it.”
She said: “That demands practical, effective policies to encourage fair work, good housing, educational attainment, and better health.
“There is much to be done, but if politics is about priorities, there can be no greater priority for the next Scottish Parliament than supporting families and ending child poverty.”
Murray also highlighted the challenges faced by families affected by disability, calling for support to continue for disabled teenagers after they turn 18.
She said: “The transition to adulthood can be a fraught time for families affected by disability, when support for young people can fall between the cracks of different agencies and service providers.
“Our politicians must ensure the rights of all our children and young people are better protected, but some families face particular challenges, demanding special attention and specific support.”
The Scottish government has taken steps towards the charity’s calls, with the Scottish Child payment recently increased to £28.80 per week from April this year.
Plans were also made in the budget to increase the payment to £40 for children under one year old in 2027.
Other policy changes Aberlour is advocating include the handling of public debt collection, such as council tax and rent arrears, which it argues is unfairly punitive to families from disadvantaged backgrounds.
MSPs backed changes to the Scottish income tax rates in Scotland which involve the freezing of thresholds for the tax year 2026-27 for the higher and top rates.
The increase in the Scottish Child payment was one of the policies that Finance Secretary Shona Robison used to justify the move.
Speaking in Holyrood on Thursday, she said: “Many families will feel the benefit of this government’s policies cumulatively, rather than just on income tax alone, whether it is on free prescriptions, abolishing peak rail fares, free higher education or the Scottish Child Payment.”
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