Scottish and UK governments must urgently do more

Last week, the Scottish Government published its third Child Poverty Delivery Plan, which aims to eradicate child poverty by 2031. Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland Nicola Killean reflects on the issue, and what more needs to be done…

“Children and young people have made it clear that child poverty is a huge worry for them, and they have asked my office to focus on it as a priority. It’s important to them, which makes it important to me. It’s a children’s rights issue that we have been working on for many years. 

“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says that every child has the right to have an adequate standard of living. They have the right to a safe warm home, and hot nutritious food. The Scottish Government has set itself binding targets to reduce the level of child poverty to at most 10% by 2030. The rate currently sitting at 22%. Progress has been made, but it’s too slow.  

“And, of course, behind the statistics are real families. Children who go to bed cold, who can’t concentrate in school because they are hungry. The conflict in the Middle East has raised renewed concerns about the cost-of-living crisis, with the potential of pushing even more children into poverty. 

“So while we note the publication of this new plan, we urgently want the Scottish and UK governments to do far more to lift more children out of poverty.”