Dr Laura Robertson is Senior Research Officer at the Poverty Alliance
IN a just and compassionate society, no one should be going hungry or cold. The cost of living crisis is having devastating impacts on people living on low-incomes in Scotland.
Research published by the Poverty Alliance and the Scottish Women’s Budget Group last month found that women are going to extreme measures just to get by as costs of living soar. Women shared examples of disconnecting from energy and accumulating debt with many being forced to take on additional low-paid work.
Going into winter, many women are worried that they will not be able to afford their energy bills. Patricia, a woman interviewed during the research, is spending more than a third of her monthly income topping up her pre-payment meter. She told us: “You used to laugh and joke before and say. ‘Oh, you know, I’ll be eating or heating’. You know what I mean, we won’t be able to do either.” These mounting pressures are putting significant strain on women’s mental health. A recent poll of 1,000 adults in Scotland by the Mental Health Foundation found that 40 per cent have experienced anxiety amid concerns over rising bills.
Whilst the announcement in the Autumn Statement that benefits and the national minimum wage will rise in line with inflation from April is welcome, this will not provide urgent financial support needed by our communities as we go into winter. Ellen, who lives in a rural area of Scotland, shared her worry of the potentially devastating impacts of being going cold and hungry this winter: “I think some folk will probably not be here this time next year.”
There are specific groups who are not be being protected by the social security system or cost of living government measures. People in low-paid work and older people are missing out on support through the social security system because they often earn just above thresholds. There has also been no announcement of financial support for asylum seekers and people with no recourse to public funds who live on just £40.85 a week.
Women in Scotland are more likely to have caring responsibilities, be in low-paid employment and have less access to saving and wealth. To prevent poverty, destitution and insecurity for women and children, immediate action is needed to widen the eligibility of financial support for people in low-paid work alongside investment in a comprehensive programme to maximise benefits uptake.
The report makes 15 recommendations including ensuring adequate incomes for all, investing in preventative public services as well as support and advice services to help people manage debt and providing stigma free support in local communities and improving community amenities and services. As costs of living continue to rise, women are calling for caring and compassionate action, and it is the responsibility of all levels of government to make sure that this happens.
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 here