OPFS response to Scottish Government child poverty figures
The Scottish Government published their Household’s Below Average Income Data (HBAI) statistics on child poverty on 27 March 2025. This is the overall figure for the number of children living in poverty in Scotland.
27/03/2025
News
In response to the latest statistics, Satwat Rehman, OPFS Chief Executive said:
“In 2017, the Scottish Parliament introduced legal targets for child poverty levels in Scotland for 2023/24 and 2030 respectively.
“Today it is disappointing to see that the interim 2023/24 targets have been substantially missed, with 22% of children in Scotland still living in relative poverty.
“This means that too many in children in Scotland are still growing up without the resources that they need to thrive. However, what today’s figures also show us is that investment in social security is an effective lever in addressing levels of child poverty going forward.
“Policies such as the Scottish Child Payment, and soon to be introduced two-child limit mitigation, have a significant impact on the lives of the children and families that we support; easing household budgets and providing greater autonomy for families.
“With defined commitments from the Scottish Government to tackle child poverty in Scotland, change is possible – but more is needed overall to ensure that the pace of this is sufficient to get us back on track to meet 2030 targets. This includes, but is not limited to, continued investment in social security, an increase in flexible childcare and employment, and further expansion of holistic family support services.”
- Aimee, Young parent, North Lanarkshire
Young mothers under 25 and lone parents are two of the six priority groups identified by the Scottish Government for tackling child poverty. We spoke to two young parents in Motherwell who attend OPFS’s Best Beginnings project for young mothers.
Young parent, Aimee, from Motherwell said:
“Housing is a huge issue. Realistically there’s only so much they can do, as there’s not enough resources and there’s no quick fix. There needs to be more financial support. Opening up the benefits to more families, there’s lots of families just living above the threshold but they are still struggling. Scottish Child Payment opened up to much more people – for everyone not just those on benefits – it would lift everyone up just a bit more. In an ideal world.
“Mortgages and rents have increased so much that it’s affecting almost everyone’s ability to be able to afford the food and things they could before.”
On the impact of Scottish Child Payment, another parent said:
“Scottish Child Payment helps with the essentials for my child like milk, especially when waiting for UC payment. I always like to make sure my child has enough, I don’t care if I don’t have everything I need, as long as my child is ok.”
About the support received from OPFS, parents who attend the group said:
“Meeting other young parents in the same situation. There’s no judgement. It’s a chance for us to build our confidence while our children play. We learn from each other and give each other support”