Originally published at https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/wrong-direction-can-scotland-hit-its-child-poverty-targets/
Very quick summary:
- Scotland is not on track to hit its legal target of reducing relative child poverty to 18% by 2023-24
- In fact, child poverty is more likely to rise than fall
- UK-wide benefit policy is the key cause of this, with the benefit freeze, two-child limit and other welfare cuts taking substantial amounts of money from lower income parents.
- But the Scottish government also has the power to reduce child poverty, and much will depend on the generosity, design and funding of the promised ‘Income Supplement’ (note: this is now called the ‘Scottish Child Payment’).
- The Scottish government should also be concerned with the quality of existing poverty statistics. Due to an under-reporting of benefit income in household surveys, it may be that the existing targets will eventually need revising and that recorded poverty trends may not fully reflect policy changes.
Covered in The Guardian, ITV, The Scotsman, The Big Issue and more.