More young people than ever living in poverty
The most comprehensive review ever carried out on progress towards greater equality and human rights protection across Scotland and the rest of Britain has been published.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission published Is Britain Fairer?, its statutory five-yearly report on equality and human rights progress in England, Scotland and Wales, on 30 October (followed in January by Is Scotland Fairer?). The report (below) is the product of the most comprehensive review to date.
It reveals that while for some life has become fairer over the past five years, for others progress has stalled and for some life on many fronts has got worse. Young people suffered the greatest drop in income and employment of any group and now face greater barriers to achieving economic independence and success than they did five years ago.
Is Britain Fairer? shows how socio-economic status, age, ethnicity and other factors impact on the outcomes for different groups of people at different stages of life.
The report includes Scotland-specific findings which will be summarised in a Scotland report, to be published in January.
The report’s key challenges and findings specific to Scotland include:
Employment rates lowest in Scotland, concerns around disabled people
- On average, a disabled person is paid £1.20 less per hour. Disabled people have a much lower employment rate of 43% vs 80% for non-disabled person.
Families in sub-standard housing fell, homeless applications dropped but more young people than ever living in poverty
- In 2012/13 22.4% of children lived in poverty, with higher levels shown for children living in a household headed by someone from a non-White ethnic group.
Health of Scots still cause for concern, life expectancy lowest of GB
- Smokers in 2012 still at 2008 levels of 24.5%, proportion of adults who exceed drinking guidelines fell in this period for people between 16-34, but increased for 65-74s.
Educational attainment improvements for children across most groups
- Girls continue to do better than boys
- Pupils from the gypsy/traveller community continue to do worse than peers.
- Percentage of NEETS (not in education, employment or training) has not changed over time.
Political participation is higher in Scotland
- Members of the Scottish Parliament more representative in terms of gender, though still only 36%.
- Increase in proportion of people who say they are involved in politics, though young people and ethnic minorities still less likely to participate.
Fear of crime increased, rape & domestic abuse reporting increase
- 9% of adults in Scotland feel unsafe being alone at home at night or walking alone. Older people, women and disabled most likely to feel unsafe.
- Number of rapes/attempted rapes and domestic violence incidents recorded by police increased between 2008/9 and 2012/13. Young people were more likely to report being a victim.
Alastair Pringle, EHRC Scotland Director said: ‘This report shows that progress towards equality has been made for some people in certain areas of life. However, many people are being left behind.
“Young people and ethnic minorities have been particularly badly-hit over the last five years, with life on many fronts getting worse. The gateway to opportunity remains harder to pass through for some groups, such as disabled people and people from poorer backgrounds and from the gypsy traveller community.
“The report highlights the need to address key challenges of health inequalities and improving living conditions in communities to address significant inequalities in housing conditions and living standards. Other areas requiring significant improvement are eliminating violence, harassment and abuse in the community.
“We have opportunities to make progress in Scotland and we look forward to consulting with a range of stakeholders about the evidence from the report in the coming weeks, to ensure January’s final product is fully reflective of life in Scotland today. The EHRC has a crucial role in ensuring our evidence is a catalyst for change but everyone has an important part to play in achieving a fairer Scotland.”
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