One in four children across Falkirk Council area living in poverty

The latest statistics saw One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), a member of the End Child Poverty coalition, joined its partner organisations in calling for urgent political action.

A new report and data on child poverty across the UK was published by End Child Poverty earlier this month based on research by Loughborough University.  It shows that 29 per cent of children in the UK and one in four children in Scotland were living in poverty in 2021/22.

OPFS supports End Child Poverty’s calls and notes that children in single parent families are at particular risk of poverty, with the latest Scottish Government data putting the figure at 38 per cent.

In the Falkirk area 25.3 per cent of children are living in poverty after housing costs.

Satwat Rehman, One Parent Families Scotland chief executive said: "Sadly, the high rates of poverty in the local authority areas in which we deliver services come as no surprise to us. We regularly hear from single parent families in crisis, struggling to meet even the most basic living costs. Benefit levels are simply too low to support families facing soaring food prices and childcare and energy costs. 

"We and our End Child Poverty coalition partners are asking the UK Government to take urgent action by scrapping policies like the two-child limit in Universal Credit in order to reduce these unacceptable levels of poverty across the UK. At the same time, we are calling on the Scottish Government to do what it can to mitigate this harmful policy through a Scottish Child Payment top-up for larger families.

“We also know that children with single parents and those with a mother under 25 are at the sharp end of these statistics, with poverty rates well above the national rate. This is why One Parent Families Scotland is also calling for the UK Government to scrap their policy of paying under 25s less in Universal Credit than over 25s and urging the Scottish Government to mitigate this discriminatory policy by providing a top-up to the Scottish Child Payment for young parents.

"The new UK-wide local child poverty statistics show that Scotland has lower child poverty rates than England and Wales, and we know that the Scottish Child Payment is already making a big difference to struggling families. However, the Scottish Government urgently needs to do more to lift children out of poverty.”

Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, the SNP leader of Falkirk Council, said: “It is a shameful reality that more families by the day are falling into poverty, and no-one is impacted more than children. There is a clear need for action to be taken locally and nationally to protect children and families from the worst impacts of poverty. While we as a council cannot solve the current cost-of-living and energy cost crises, we can take steps to alleviate some of the pressure in our own area.

“For example, our household support fund has provided 4488 payments worth over £790,000, supporting 5255 adults and 3532 children since September 2022. The fund is currently being reviewed and will reopen in September 2023 to provide vital support over the next winter. We are also implementing a new income maximisation strategy which aims to increase uptake of benefits and in-kind support such as free swimming, bus travel and period products.

“This strategy will help maximise the income of households across the council area and will particularly focus on supporting families in or at risk of poverty. Our staff are working tirelessly to communicate this to our communities, and I would encourage anyone in need of support and assistance to get in touch to see what is available that can help through any difficulties they may be facing.”