A report prepared for the Child Poverty Action Group by Loughborough University suggests that child poverty costs the Scottish economy almost £1 billion a year. The problem is worst in the city of Glasgow with the local authority is claimed to spend £395 million a year – the research reports that over 36,000 children in the city live below the poverty line. By contrast in Edinburgh, the cost of child poverty, while still high, stands at around £156 million a year while, across the River Forth in Fife, the local authority there must find £158 million to support its children in poverty.
The report covered the whole of the UK. The city with the worst record for child poverty was found to be Birmingham. It estimated that the cost of child poverty to the authorities there was a staggering £914 million a year. The second worst was Manchester which came in at £446 million.
Child poverty is falling
but not fast enough
The head of CPAG in Scotland, John Dickie, urged local authorities to do “all within their powers to protect families in their areas against poverty, for example, removing childcare barriers to work, ensuring families have access to benefits and tax credits advice on investing in reducing the costs families face by extending free school meals and increasing school clothing grants.”
In a statement from Glasgow City Council, the authority said it was not clear from the report her figures about projected costs were arrived at. But it also went on to acknowledge that child poverty was well recognised by the Council, adding that improvements were being made to the light of those most affected by deprivation. It went on – “we are committed to tackling poverty and health inequalities and through our long-term strategy of focusing on jobs and the economy, targeted support for the vulnerable, the early years and education, we hope to bring lasting change to the city.”
Figures from the Scottish Government, published last month, showed that 710,000 people – including 150,000 children – lived in relative poverty last year. The government in Holyrood is said to be “doing all it can with the powers it has” to address social inequality but acknowledges that there is no room for complacency.
This is the second time this year that a report has been published showing the extent of child poverty in Scotland. Back in February, the Campaign to End Child Poverty published a map showing the extent of the problem across the UK. This was based on political boundaries and showed clearly that some areas of Scotland, especially Glasgow North East, had some of the worst conditions in the UK. However, it also indicated that one in five children had experienced financial hardship in 27 of Scotland’s local authority areas.