‘Unacceptably High Levels of Poverty in the UK’

Child poverty rates in Scotland (24%) remain much lower than those in England (30%) and Wales (29%) and are similar (if slightly higher) than in Northern Ireland (23%). This is likely to be due, at least in part, to the Scottish Child Payment. This highlights the effect benefits can have in reducing poverty. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2025) UK Poverty 2025

UK Poverty 25 – published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 29 January looks back at the period before the 2024 General Election and the steps needing to be taken if there is to be positive change in child poverty rates.

The statistics are shocking for one of the world’s richest states:

There has mostly been no change to these rates since before 2020, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

And the report states:

“economic growth on its own won’t reduce poverty, and it is deeply unjust to force families to wait for economic growth before they feel their situation improve, especially given the picture of deepening poverty.”

Some more shocking statistics:

In 2022/23, 6 million people were in deep poverty

Between 2017/18 and 2020/21, over 12 million people had experienced very deep poverty in at least one year

The poorest families – those living in very deep poverty – had an average income that was 57% below the poverty line, with this gap increasing by almost two-thirds over the past 25 years.

3.8 million people experienced destitution in 2022, including around one million children. 

The levels of poverty hit larger families the most, those with 3 or more children. The 2 child benefit cap (aka the rape clause) was introduced in April 2017 by the UK Tory Government and is continued by the Labour Government. In Scotland, the SNP Scottish Government has mitigated the 2 Child Benefit Cap and large families will not be penalised for having more than 2 children if they wish to claim benefits. Scotland has several benefits which the rest of the UK does not have. These are spending choices made by the Scottish Government through its Budget and the Scottish Parliament. Click on this link to find out more about benefits in Scotland for Children and Family

Ethnic groups and People with a disability are also disproportionately affected by poverty.

Poverty rates vary significantly between UK nations and regions

The rising cost of living: increased prices in food, utilities, rent and other household costs – has meant that by October 2024:

• 2.6 million of the poorest fifth of households (44%) were in arrears with their household bills or behind on scheduled lending repayments
• 4.1 million households (69%) were going without essentials
•  3.2 million households (54%) cut back on food or went hungry.

Within Scotland there are also significant variations between each constituency area, although child poverty rates in Scotland (24%) remain much lower than those in England (30%) and Wales (29%) and are similar (if slightly higher) than in Northern Ireland (23%). See table at the end of the article

The report concludes that the levels of poverty in the UK are ‘unacceptable’. It offers solutions:

• Offer help and space for those looking for work to find a secure job that sticks, while making work possible and desirable for those outside the labour market if this is feasible.
• Improve financial protection if people lose their jobs or cannot work for a period, such as paid leave due to caring demands or sickness, building on new policies which have started to raise the basic level of workplace rights and protections.
• Give people the ability to care alongside work without falling into hardship, including by increasing the value of carer benefits while making paid care services more affordable and accessible.
• Ensure social security is there for all of us when we need it, with the basic rate set so it is at least enough to afford life’s essentials. This includes permanently re-linking the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to local rents and removing the 2 child limit in the benefit system, alongside forging a ‘social safety net’ of crisis support, practical help and social connection where people live.
• Put future pension provision on a more secure footing by raising minimum contribution rates and establishing good options for people to use their savings pot to provide a secure standard of living in retirement.
• Help people accrue modest savings, access affordable credit, gain relief from problem debt and hold assets (especially those without access to family wealth).
• Expand access to affordable, secure, decent homes, whether rented or owned, by increasing the supply of homes, including those for social rent, and ensure that the benefit system works to support households with their housing costs by ensuring housing benefit is unfrozen and reflects the actual cost of rents.
• Work closely with devolved governments where powers overlap to make services as easy as possible to access and collaborate on shared priorities, such as supporting individuals into work.

And to the Labour UK Government it says,“With limited action on poverty and hardship seen in the first 6 months of the Government, there is huge scepticism over what can be delivered. ‘

Child Poverty Rates: Scottish Constituencies

Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock	32%
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk	27%
Central Ayrshire	31%
East Renfrewshire	14%
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	19%
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	30%
Midlothian	23%
North Ayrshire and Arran	32%
Orkney and Shetland	16%
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	13%
Aberdeen North	25%
Aberdeen South	20%
Aberdeenshire North and Moray East	24%
Airdrie and Shotts	31%
Alloa and Grangemouth	27%
Angus and Perthshire Glens	29%
Arbroath and Broughty Ferry	28%
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber	23%
Bathgate and Linlithgow	26%
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	19%
Coatbridge and Bellshill	28%
Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy	31%
Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch	27%
Dumfries and Galloway	30%
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale	27%
Dundee Central	30%
Dunfermline and Dollar	26%
East Kilbride and Strathaven	22%
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	20%
Edinburgh North and Leith	17%
Edinburgh South	13%
Edinburgh South West	16%
Edinburgh West	13%
Falkirk	28%
Glasgow East	37%
Glasgow North	36%
Glasgow North East	37%
Glasgow South	34%
Glasgow South West	38%
Glasgow West	34%
Glenrothes and Mid Fife	33%
Gordon and Buchan	18%
Hamilton and Clyde Valley	26%
Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West	25%
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire	17%
Livingstone	28%
Lothian East	21%
Mid Dunbartonshire	15%
Moray West	22%
Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke	30%
North East Fife	24%
Paisley and Renfrewshire North	21%
Paisley and Renfrewshire South	19%
Perth and Kinross-shire	26%
Rutherglen	28%
Stirling and Strathallan	21%
West Dunbartonshire	28%

Fiona Grahame

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