A LEADING anti-poverty charity says Westminster and Holyrood must make a raft of changes to stem the “rising tide of poverty” as coronavirus increases need.

In its annual state of the nation report, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows Scotland went into the pandemic with “unacceptably high” levels of poverty. As many as 230,000 children are growing up in poverty – almost a quarter of the country’s youngsters and an increase on 2015.

The JRF says Scotland will not meet poverty alleviation targets and warns the pandemic is having a “serious impact” on jobs and financial security, with those in lower-paid accommodation, food, retail, wholesale, manufacturing and entertainment jobs facing the threat of increased poverty.

Mean working hours in Scotland dropped from 32 per week at the start of 2019 to 25 in the period up to June 2020, something JRF calls “deeply concerning”.

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It wants “stronger support” from Westminster to protect people from redundancy and claimed the UK Government must not scrap the temporary £20 uplift in both Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits and extend this to other benefits.

It’s also calling on the Scottish Government and Cosla to use local government payment channels to give further help to school age children in the lowest income households before 2022 and action on housing costs.

The report comes as Challenge Poverty Week begins. Jim McCormick of JRF said: “We went into the pandemic with unacceptable levels of poverty. The resulting economic storm risks blowing us even further off course. People and places already at greatest risk of poverty face tougher times ahead unless we are bolder in our approach to recovery.

“Now is a crucial moment for Scotland.

“It is vital to do all we can to protect people’s jobs, homes and living standards.”