INDEPENDENT analysis has revealed that UK Government welfare cuts will send child poverty rates soaring in Scotland.
By 2030-31, it is predicted that 38 per cent of children will be in relative poverty – a jump of 14 per cent.
There will also be a significant rise of those living in absolute poverty to nearly one third of all children (32 per cent) up from 23 per cent.
The number of children living in persistent poverty – those living in relative poverty for three of the previous four years – is expected to reach 16 per cent, up from 10 per cent.
The Scottish Government has called on Westminster to change course “urgently and drastically”, describing the figures from Land Economics and Virtual Worlds Research as “alarming”.
“This reveals the long-term damage of UK Government welfare cuts and austerity, with alarming increases across every measure of child poverty,” said Communities Secretary Angela Constance.
“We know the damage that has been caused already, but what alarms me is that the worst is still to come, with £4 billion annual cuts by the end of this decade set to take a stark toll on families and children.
“Addressing inequalities is core to everything we do to make Scotland fairer and more equal. That includes spending more than £100 million every year to protect people from the worst impact of UK Government welfare cuts – money that could be better spent on preventing poverty.
“Our Child Poverty Act recently established Scotland as the only part of the UK with statutory targets to tackle child poverty – and it is now more evident the scale of the challenge we face in meeting our ambitions due to UK Government policies.
“The UK Government must urgently and drastically change course. If they won’t, then they must deliver the necessary powers and financial levers to Scotland so we can do things differently and actually lift people out of poverty as opposed to only being able to mitigate the UK Government’s cuts.”
The Scottish Government is due to publish its first Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan in the wake of official figures released last week that showed nearly one in four children (24 per cent) are currently living in relative poverty after housing costs, up one per cent on 2013-16. The level for the UK as a whole is 30 per cent.
The Scottish Government has committed to reducing child poverty to less than 10 per cent by 2030.
Campaign groups have joined the Scottish Government in calling on Westminster for a change of direction.
John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said the UK Government was “in denial” about the issue.
“Without a real change of direction by the UK Government, the Scottish Government targets will be extremely difficult to meet,” he said. “The Prime Minister entered Downing Street with a pledge to protect the living standards of ordinary families. Ending the punitive freeze on benefits for working and non-working families must be an absolute priority.”
Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said a major change in the number of affordable homes available in communities across Scotland could help tackle the soaring figures.
He said: “After housing costs, nearly a quarter of all children in Scotland are now living in poverty.
“This is directly linked to spiralling housing costs and our chronic shortage of affordable homes. Our housing crisis is robbing more and more children of a decent standard of life.”
The predicted rise in child poverty levels as a result of “callous Tory policies” was described as “simply unacceptable” by Scottish Labour.
Elaine Smith, shadow cabinet spokesperson for the eradication of poverty and inequality, accused the SNP of failing to use its powers to “halt Tory austerity”.
She said: “With one million people in Scotland living in poverty right now, we cannot afford to continue to tinker around the edges.
“The SNP reconsidering its alliance with the Tories to oppose Labour’s plan for a £5-a-week child benefit top-up would be a good place to start.”
Scottish Conservative equalities spokesman Annie Wells MSP said the figures were “deeply concerning”, and that they demonstrated the SNP’s “total inability” to understand and address the “complex cause” of child poverty.
“We can tackle this issue but only if we address the causes of child poverty including addiction, family breakdown, unemployment and educational under-attainment,” she said.
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