Growing Up In Poverty is a Problem In Scotland to an Extent

Poverty is a current problem in Scotland and is affecting many people of different ages, one of those ages are children. Figures show that poverty is clearly a problem in Scotland as ‘one in five people in Scotland are living in relative poverty’. More specifically ‘the figures reveal that 240,000 children are living in poverty’. ‘Relative poverty means a household which has the income below 60% of the median net income of that financial year’ ). Therefore, it is clear that children in specifically Scotland are living in poverty nowadays and therefore is an ongoing problem as the numbers are showing a large amount of people in poverty in Scotland.

Child poverty is an issue in Scotland as shown in the figures stated before. However, the living situation which children in Scotland are in is poor. For example, 60% of children go without a family holiday, 32% of children go without education games and 30% go without construction toys. This may seem unimportant; however, these conditions impact the child’s life enormously. This is due to the fact that if a child may be coming back from school holidays and maybe not being able to relate to the other children and then feeling excluded which can lead to a lack of self- confidence, this then can affect their education, their social life and potentially their future. This is shown in an NHS document which states ‘children growing up in poverty have poorer social, behavioural and cognitive outcomes than better- off children […] this affects children’s outcomes, resulting in lower educational attainment which can last into adulthood’. Moreover, this proves that children’s poor living standards are impacting them emotionally in a negative way, and therefore is a problem in Scotland as it is continuous and is seriously affecting children’s potential and their health.

The impacts of child poverty are damaging not only currently but will also be damaging on their future work or even their future selves. Poverty is affecting children in Scotland’s health; mentally, as stated before, however, also physically. This is proved by where you live and what kind of area it is, whether it is known to be a wealthier area or a rougher area, changes your life expectancy rate. If you live in an area where most people are living with a higher income then you are expected to live longer, on the other hand, if you live in an area where the combined income is lower then you are likely to live a shorter life due to your living conditions in your area or at home. This is shown by the life expectancy’s in different areas of Scotland, for example between 2015- 17, the life expectancy was highest in East Renfrewshire at 80.5 years for males and 83.7 for females and the lowest life expectancy was in Glasgow City at 73.3 years for males and 78.7 years for females. This distinctly tells us that the area you live in affects your physical wellbeing as East Renfrewshire is a wealthy area, whereas in Glasgow City there is more poverty. As a result of this it is obvious that poverty is a problem as it’s affecting the physical health and wellbeing of people and especially children in Scotland.

Although, child poverty is clearly shown to be a problem in Scotland, the Scottish Government has taken action and put policies in order to prevent and decrease child poverty in Scotland. For example, a recent policy was the Child Poverty Scotland Act in 2017. The purpose of this policy was to meet 4 goals by 2030, these goals include; ‘less than 10% of children live in households that are in relative poverty, less than 5% of children live in households that are in absolute poverty, less than 5% of children live in households that are in combines low income and material deprivation and less that 5% of children live in households that are in persistent poverty’. Therefore, this shows us that Scotland have put in the effort to make a change on child poverty. Nevertheless, since this policy has been put into place, ‘child poverty on all measures was at least double the 2030 targets’. Therefore, this shows us that although action has taken place and the government have attempted to make a change to this problem it hasn’t yet succeeded and actually increased drastically. One could say that the Scottish Government may need to go a step further and introduce more policies and changes in order to decrease the figures of child poverty in Scotland, to therefore eventually make child poverty not a problem in Scotland.

On the other hand, another plan put in place by the Scottish Government was the “Every child, every chance: tackling child poverty delivery plan 2018-2022” as part of the Child Poverty Scotland Act in 2017. This delivery plan is set to ‘make a real difference to children’s lives […as] local authorities and health boards work together to report annually on what they are doing to tackle child poverty’. Therefore, this shows us that there is a more specific plan to decrease and hopefully eradicate child poverty in Scotland.

“Children and Young People (Scotland) Act” in 2014 was also put into place to motivate famous public figures and the Scottish Government to think about young people and children’s rights in Scotland from birth to becoming adults in today’s society. Therefore, they may look at children’s rights in their education and work and ensure their rights are being met and that the children/ young people are progressing. According to Building Brighter Futures in 2019 they mentioned that the Act was also put into place to make ‘Scotland the best place to grow up and in making important changes for looked after children’. Some of the changes in childcare were ‘600 hours of free learning and child- care for all two-year olds who are looked after or secured with friends or relatives’. This is showing us that progress is happening by the Scottish Government, whether it is making an effect and the child poverty numbers are decreasing will only be told in the future. Therefore, this also shows us changes being made in order to stop child poverty being a problem in Scotland. On the other hand, from recent figures of 2019 saying ‘[the data] shows a 1% rise of 30,000 people in the country living in relative poverty in the three- year period up to 2018’ . This is clearly showing us that the changes and acts being put in place aren’t being effective as the numbers and statistics are only increasing, even though the Scottish Government have tried to stop child poverty. Furthermore, there may be many policies, Acts and plans for the future to stop child poverty being a problem in Scotland, however, they aren’t being beneficial as child poverty and poverty in general is still not only existing problem but also a major issue in Scotland.

In conclusion, poverty and specifically child poverty is a problem in Scotland to an extent. It is trying to be managed and the Scottish Government have used their authority and power to try and decrease the figures with the laws they have introduced, however, the figures over the years in which the laws were introduced have not indicated that the Acts and future plans are making a difference, in reality the figures of children in poverty in Scotland have only kept on increasing due to not enough changes being made and actually succeeding in reducing the number of children living in poverty. Therefore, poverty is an issue in Scotland in general as many people are still living in poverty and have been for the on- going years, and not only is this bad because the laws aren’t effective, but also it is damaging the physical and mental wellbeing of the people and children living in poverty in Scotland.

Bibliography:

• Adelman et al. 2003. Dimensions of severe child poverty and social exclusion. In: Adelman ed. Britain's Poorest Children. Save the Children, pp. 4
• BBC news. 28 March 2019. One in five living in poverty in Scotland as income inequality rises. [Online]. [6 November 2019].
• Building Brighter Futures. 2019. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. [Online]. [6 November 2019].
• Microsoft PowerPoint, Dr. Daniela Sime. 2nd October 2019. Social Divisions: Class, poverty and inequality. [Online].
• National Records of Scotland. 12 December 2018. Life Expectancy in Scottish Areas 2015- 2017. [Online]. [6 November 2019].
• NHS Health Scotland. 2018. Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017: an overview. [Online]. [6 November 2019].
• NHS Health Scotland. 2018. Child Poverty in Scotland: Health impact and Health Inequalities. [Online]. [6 November 2019].
• Scottish Government Publications. 29 March 2018. Every child, every chance: tackling child poverty delivery plan 2018-2022. [Online]. [6 November 2019].
• SPICe: The Information Centre. 2019. Child poverty in Scotland: Forecasting the Impact of Policy Options. [Online]. [6 November 2019]