Scotland’s anti-poverty network has published its reaction to the new Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.
Poverty Alliance chief executive Peter Kelly said: ¨People in Scotland want a just and compassionate country where every child gets the decent start in life they deserve.
“In 2017, every MSP from every political party at Holyrood came together to agree legal targets on effectively ending the injustice of child poverty by 2030. The new plan published today must be properly developed and implemented, if the next Scottish Government is to make good on that promise to Scotland’s children.
“We have made progress on reducing child poverty – the Scottish Child Payment is protecting around 40,000 children from poverty this year alone.
“But, 1 in 4 of Scotland’s children still live in poverty. And by the Scottish Government’s own admission targets will not be met without further action. With the right investment, we can change that. We can raise the Scottish Child Payment to £55 a week. We can make sure that more workers receive at least the real Living Wage. We can invest in key services that will help reduce child poverty like transport and childcare, building on the welcome announcements of funding for next year made today.
“Whole family support investment is welcome and necessary. It will help make sure that households are able to get the right support they are entitled to. But that support has to be further strengthened by the next parliament. It’s time for politicians to invest today so that all our children have a secure foundation to develop and thrive.”
Get Heard Scotland Comment
Martha is a mother of three from Fife, who has been involved in the Poverty Alliance’s Get Heard Scotland project – giving people with real experience of life on a low income a chance to share their views on new policies and projects in Scotland.
Martha said: “Action so far has definitely helped, but we’ve not done enough to achieve the targets. We call them ambitious, but it should be a bare minimum responsibility – it shouldn’t be ambitious to not have people in poverty, it should be a standard expectation.
“I’d like to see more done to support people in multiple at-risk groups. Lots of large families are doing a food shop on £40 a week – very little is fresh, veg is tinned or frozen to save on costs, and if their children are over the age of 3 you don’t get the best star foods card. And there’s also the cost of being ill – or having an ill child – losing pay, losing work, the cost of travelling to appointments. I have to run a car because public transport isn’t always an option.
“It was World Book Day last week and lots of parents were feeling guilty for sending their kids in in their old pyjamas. Add that to the guilt of not being able to buy the book from the school book fair, or buy the annual school photos because you can’t risk not having that money for a food shop. Parents aren’t finding the pressures have lifted and are constantly feeling the pinch financially and emotionally.”
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