Anti-poverty campaigners from across the UK have come together with trade unions, faith groups and health organisations to urge Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap the ‘unjust’ benefit cap. The benefit cap blocks households from getting all the help they need from the social security system. In Scotland, more than 6,000 households are affected, losing out … Read more
Dr Laura Robertson, Senior Research Officer at The Poverty Alliance provided the below evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee in February 2022. The poverty-attainment gap: the context The attainment gap in Scotland starts in the early years and widens as children and young people move through the education system. From the early … Read more
People on low incomes across the country are being caught up in a rising tide of hardship, with the cost of living crisis combining with an inadequate social security system to pull them deeper into poverty. Today’s Ofgem announcement threatens to turn this rising tide into a flood, as more people are forced into impossible … Read more
MSPs have today (Wednesday 26th January) launched a call for evidence on the impact of poverty-related stigma, after being told by experts that negative and discriminatory attitudes towards people living in poverty are continuing to blight the lives of people across Scotland. The Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Poverty, which brings together MSPs from all … Read more
A new report identifying a range of policy levers available to the Scottish Government to tackle child poverty has been published by the Fraser of Allander Institute. The Scottish Government is due to set out its new plan for tackling child poverty in March. Around one in four children in Scotland are currently living in … Read more
Shari McDaid, Mental Health Foundation, and Peter Kelly, The Poverty Alliance. Today we are proud to launch a new partnership between The Poverty Alliance and Mental Health Foundation. Together we will carry out an ambitious research and policy programme to address poverty as a fundamental driver of mental ill health. We will conduct research along … Read more
Anti-poverty campaigners have today launched a new campaign calling on the UK Government to scrap the benefit cap, after a survey of people on low incomes and charities found that the policy is causing widespread harm and hardship. The campaign, called Scrap the Cap, is being coordinated by the Poverty Alliance and is being supported … Read more
Responding to the Scottish Government’s budget, which was published today, Peter Kelly (Director, Poverty Alliance), said: “Today’s Scottish Government budget contains a number of welcome commitments. Doubling the Scottish Child Payment from April, as we and so many others across Scotland campaigned hard for, will help stem the rising tide of poverty across the country. … Read more
The Covid-19 pandemic has “intensified” the poverty experienced by low income families across Scotland, a report published today has found, with calls for increased action in order for Scotland to meet its 2030 child poverty targets. The report, published by the Poverty Alliance as part of its Get Heard Scotland project, is based on interviews with 32 low-income families … Read more
“The decision to double the Scottish Child Payment from April is one that will loosen the grip of poverty on the lives of thousands of children in Scotland. We, and so many others across Scotland, have been making clear the need to take this action, and we are delighted that the Scottish Government have listened … Read more
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