Poverty – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

More than 1.42 MILLION emergency food parcels distributed in past six months

Food banks in our community gave out just over 1,428,000 emergency food parcels across the UK between April and September this year, charity Trussell Trust reports today.

This includes 508,000 parcels provided for children facing hunger across the UK.

The majority of food parcels were distributed to families with children, with 63% of the total number of parcels going to households with children aged 0–16, the charity reports. More than 277,000 people visited a food bank in the Trussell community for the first time between April and September.

The total number of parcels provided across the UK is 67,000 fewer when compared to the same period last year, representing a 4% decrease. Trussell says there are a number of possible reasons for this recent small dip, such as the gradual slowdown in the extortionate price hikes we experienced on food and bills in recent years, and an end to the Local Housing Allowance freeze in April, bringing support for private renters back in line with local rents.

However, Trussell says it’s difficult to say if there has been an actual drop in hunger and hardship. The need for emergency food is still persistently high, and the number of parcels provided is 69% greater than the same period in 2019.

In fact, some UK regions saw a marginal increase in the number of food parcels provided. East of England and London saw increases of 1% and 4% respectively in the numbers of parcels provided.

Trussell says while food banks are a last resort for people who’ve been left isolated, facing hunger, and without enough money to live on, many are at breaking point due to years of growing numbers of people forced through their doors. 

Winter is often the busiest time for food banks and Trussell is calling on the public to continue to play their part and support their local food banks to meet this urgent need, by volunteering, donating, fundraising or campaigning to help end hunger in the UK.

Food banks offer hope, dignity and relief to people facing hardship. Many need vital funds to provide services beyond distributing emergency food, such as advice and support that unlocks money someone should be getting and services aimed at helping people out of financial hardship.   

Trussell says the evidence is clear that hunger in the UK isn’t a food problem, it’s an income problem. People are being forced to turn to food banks because incomes from work, and social security payments, do not cover the cost of the essentials, such as food, bills, and toiletries.

That’s why Trussell has also joined forces with hundreds of communities, food banks and charities including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, in calling on the UK government to take urgent action now. 

Today, food banks across the UK have joined together to rally for change and are giving out a newspaper, the Hardship Times, in Westminster. The newspaper is made up of messages of hardship and hope, collected from hundreds of food banks across the UK.  

The charity says there is hope and it knows we can end hunger, if positive action is taken. The UK government must act swiftly to follow up announcements in the recent Budget, with a clear plan to meet its manifesto commitment to end the need for emergency food and ensure that we do not see even more people facing hunger and hardship on its watch. 

This plan should include investment in our social security system, at the very least introducing a protected minimum floor in Universal Credit to limit the amount of reductions that could be applied to a household’s Universal Credit. This would ensure, for the first time, that there would be a real safety net below which no one could fall.

The charity says this would be a low cost but concrete step towards ensuring our social security system protects people from facing hunger and hardship. 

Emma Revie, Chief Executive of Trussell, said: “The sheer numbers of people still facing hunger and hardship across the UK is heartbreaking. This cannot go on and we refuse to stand by while so many of us are pushed to the brink, left without enough money to live on.

“Our food banks are a lifeline, offering a warm welcome and space to be heard. They need everyone to play their part to move us towards ending the need for emergency food in the UK.

“You can help make sure food banks can continue to provide warm, compassionate, practical support and advice this winter by volunteering, donating, fundraising or campaigning to help end hunger in the UK.

“Meanwhile, alongside our community of food banks campaigning today in Westminster, we will continue to call for change.

“The UK Government was elected with a manifesto pledge to end the need for emergency food and the time to act is now. There have been promising steps, but we need a clearer plan with more decisive action to invest in our social security system, if we are to end hunger once and for all.”

Number of emergency food parcels distributed by food banks in the Trussell community: 1 April – 30 September 2019, 2023, and 2024:     

	1 April – 30 September 2019			1 April – 30 September 2023			1 April– 30 September 2024
	For adults	For children	Total	For adults	For children	Total	For adults	For children	Total
UK	534,786	309,203	843,989	952,394	542,915	1,495,309	920,960	507,721	1,428,681
England	411,598	243,697	655,295	785,489	451,713	1,237,202	764,077	424,758	1,188,835
Scotland	75,361	36,891	112,252	87,485	42,136	129,621	82,424	39,967	122,391
Wales	37,262	21,199	58,461	56,496	32,209	88,705	53,878	28,907	82,785
Northern Ireland	10,565	7,416	17,981	22,924	16,857	39,781

Over 6 million children face going to bed cold this winter

Research reveals over 6 million British children could be facing cold bedtimes this winter, with half of parents (49%) worried their children will be cold at home when temperatures drop.

The new data indicated that almost a quarter of Brits (24%) cannot keep their house warm when it’s cold, no matter what they try.

As a result, a third of parents (32%) admit they’ve had to put their children to bed in a cold room and a further 39% worry the temperature of their house is bad for their family’s health on cold days.

The research, conducted by the home heating experts at SpeedComfort, reveals the scale of British homes’ cold crisis, with many homes falling short of recommended healthy temperatures.

On average, Brits anticipate the temperatures inside their homes will drop to 12.8°C this winter. This is five degrees colder than the recommended healthy temperature for adults to live and sleep in (18°C) and three degrees colder than the minimum safe temperature for infants to sleep in (16°C), according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The impact of this on families across the UK is significant. According to the NHS, consistently being cold can have a detrimental impact on you and your family’s physical health.

The latest findings support this. 43% claim being cold at home causes them physical discomfort, over a quarter (28%) say they’re ill more often when it’s cold, and 41% report feeling down when they’re cold.

In addition to affecting families, the research found that cold temperatures are set to have a big impact on the UK’s most vulnerable citizens, with older people most likely to be cold at home this winter (37%).

This is concerning, given that they are more susceptible to the mental and physical effects of the cold. Half of over 65s say the cold causes discomfort and almost the same proportion (49%) state it makes them feel low (8% higher than the average Brit).

Wouter Heuterman, CEO of SpeedComfort, comments: “With the cost of living crisis continuing to affect so many families across the UK, it’s heartbreaking to see that so many people are worried about keeping their families safe and warm at home this winter.

“The cold has a huge impact on how we feel both physically and emotionally. For families with children and vulnerable people, the impact of cold temperatures is even further exacerbated.

“So, if you’re worried about the health of your family this winter, it’s well worth considering alternative ways of keeping your home warm when temperatures drop. To help with this, we’ve created a guide for staying warm without increasing energy usage this winter.”

Find out how to stay warm on a budget this winter.

Community support from Fresh Start

SATURDAY NIGHT SUPPER and ENGLISH CLASSES

FRESH START are running our Saturday Night Supper cook at home programme again for anyone who wishes to learn cooking skills and may have already attended our classes.

These sessions build on the skills learned in class, feel free to share and to sign up by contacting cooking@freshstartweb.org.uk

We also have spaces in our English classes – Beginners and Intermediate, please contact me to sign up: abigail@freshstartweb.org.uk

Please share with your networks!

Edinburgh celebrates the commitment of Living Wage employers

Employers in Edinburgh continue to lead efforts in Scotland to make sure people in work can earn a decent wage that is enough to live on.

The real Living Wage is an independently calculated rate based on the cost of living and is paid voluntarily by employers. This pay rate is updated every year to make sure hourly pay keeps up with the costs of housing, childcare, transport, and heating costs for workers in Scotland.

Efforts to boost the number of businesses paying the real Living Wage has led to a total of 746 accredited employers in the city. This means that a total of 217,887 employees are covered by a Living Wage commitment.

Figures shared ahead of Living Wage Week 2024 (4 – 12 November) reveal that the Living Wage movement in Edinburgh is continuing to grow. Since October last year, there have been 91 new accreditations in the city, and this has uplifted the pay of 686 staff.

Living Wage week provides an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the movement to date, and to express gratitude to employers for maintaining their commitment, despite challenging business conditions.

Councillor Jane Meagher, Edinburgh’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, and Co-Chair of Edinburgh Living Wage Action Group, said: “Over 80,000 people are living in poverty in Edinburgh and many have been pushed into deprivation because of insecure work. It really can happen to any of us and that is why the Living Wage is such a powerful tool, for making sure people get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

“In 2024 we’re more determined than ever to work with employers to encourage them to sign up, and it feels like we’re witnessing a real movement. Edinburgh is now home to 20% of Scotland’s Living Wage employers and since October last year more than 90 businesses have signed up. I’d like to express my gratitude to every single one.

“The next few months and years will be critical because we know more Edinburgh-based businesses want to help tackle low pay and insecure work, but that they are under increasing pressure.

“So, as the rate of the Scottish Living Wage rises to £12.60 an hour, the events hosted here in Edinburgh and across the country provide an opportunity to showcase how far we’ve come, while acknowledging that more work is needed.”

Kat Brogan, Managing Director of Mercat Tours and Co-Chair of the Edinburgh Living Wage Action Group commented: “In Edinburgh, the Living Wage movement has continued to grow.

“This is a massive achievement for the city, particularly as many employers are facing difficult circumstances with rising business costs. In this context, committing to the real Living Wage can seem daunting. Yet, it is more important than ever.

“It is not only the cost of business that is rising; the cost of living is also on the up. More and more workers are struggling to keep up with this and are finding themselves unable to afford necessities like food and heating.

“By accrediting as Living Wage employers, organisations are doing their bit to support their employees and to reduce levels of in-work poverty.”

Poverty and Equality Commission produces Workshop Report

As part of its approach to the Commission’s 2023-24 scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s progress in reducing child poverty, the Poverty and Inequality Commission wanted to hear from parents and carers who were a member of the Scottish Government’s ‘priority family types’. These are households types who are at greater risk of poverty.

The Commission worked with eight organisations to organise workshop discussions (and in one case a survey) to gather parent and carer participant views on:

What policies to reduce child poverty they were aware of
How well they felt policies were working
What else they felt was needed to reduce child poverty

This report summarises the views of participants on the three topics above, expanding on the material the Commission published earlier in 2024 as part of its 2023-24 child poverty scrutiny.

The Commission is very grateful to all the participants in our workshops who took time to discuss these issues, and the organisations who we worked with to arrange them.

Download: Report of workshops with priority families in Scotland and their ideas to reduce child poverty (pdf, 422kb)

Report-of-workshops-with-priority-families-in-Scotland-and-their-ideas-to-reduce-poverty-October-2024 Download

Budget: Charities unite in call to scrap two child limit

UK Government must scrap the unfair two-child limit at the Budget, say leading children’s charities

Since the Labour party took office on 4^th July, and by the time the Budget is announced, a staggering 12,500* children have been plunged into poverty due to the two-child limit on benefit payments. This shocking surge adds to the 1.6 million children already suffering under this unnecessary policy.

Leading children’s charities (the End Child Poverty Coalition, Save the Children, Action for Children, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Centre for Young Lives, Gingerbread, Barnardo’s and the National Children’s Bureau) have joined together to call on the government to include scrapping the two-child limit in the Budget on 30th October. Two of these organisations, Save the Children and CPAG, are also assisting the government with evidence gathering ahead of the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025.**

These charities are supported by the 120 members of the End Child Poverty Coalition, an alliance of national, regional and local anti-poverty organisations, united in the view that child poverty in the UK can be addressed via government action.

Joseph Howes, CEO of Buttle UK and Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition said: ‘The two-child limit must be scrapped: children cannot wait any longer for government action.

“We don’t say only two children in a family can go to school, or that the third sibling cannot receive hospital treatment, so why do we limit benefit payments to only two children? By scrapping this policy, this government would be recognised as one that turns the tide on rising levels of child poverty across the UK’.

Victoria Benson, CEO of Gingerbread said: ‘Scrapping the two-child limit is a quick and cost-effective way to lift children out of poverty and it’s disappointing that our Government hasn’t committed to doing this.

“The majority of families hit by the two-child limit are single parent families who are already almost twice as likely to be living in poverty, compared to couple parent families.

“There is no doubt it is a cruel policy that has done little to meet its aim of increasing employment levels and yet it has left hundreds of thousands of single parent households in poverty.

“If our Government wants to tackle child poverty it must scrap the two child limit as soon as possible.’

Becca Lyon, Head of Child Poverty for Save the Children UK, said: ‘The time for action on the two-child limit to benefits is now and the UK Government must scrap this cruel policy.

“Children cannot wait any longer to receive the same amount of money as their siblings. Our society should be one where being born after your siblings shouldn’t exclude you from support. These are political choices, and the Budget is a chance for the UK Government to right the record for thousands of children.”

The two-child limit to benefit payments is an unfair policy which limits the amount of money families in receipt of social security payments receive for the third or subsequent child born after April 2017. Families affected by it miss out on up to £3455 per child per year.

The policy pushes families into poverty. Recent analysis published by CPAG has shown that for every day this policy remains in place, 109 children are being pulled into poverty.* End Child Poverty Coalition analysis has shown there is a strong positive correlation between child poverty figures and the number of children living in families impacted by the two-child limit.***

Unless this issue is urgently addressed, the government’s upcoming Child Poverty Strategy will fall short of delivering meaningful change. Lifting the two-child limit is a critical step towards to halting the harmful cycle of deprivation and despair.

Children can no longer wait for change. The ‘sibling tax’ must be scrapped.

*More information on the government’s plans to engage on the Preventing Child Poverty Strategy here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy

**109 children a day are pulled into poverty by this policy every day, research has found https://cpag.org.uk/news/10000-children-dragged-poverty-two-child-limit-labour-took-office

*** More information on this research can be found here: https://endchildpoverty.org.uk/child-poverty-2024/

Today we have signed a joint statement with:

calling for @RachelReevesMP to scrap the 2-child limit in the #Budget on Wednesday.

This is also supported by 120+members of @EndChildPoverty

Almost half a million workers to benefit from Living Wage boost

LIVING WAGE MOVEMENT CONTINUES TO GROW

Almost half a million Living Wage workers are set for a pay boost as over 15,000 Living Wage Employers are signed up to pay the new rates
The real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate independently calculated based solely on the actual cost of living and is different from the government’s National Living Wage, which is the legal minimum employers must pay for over-21s
The new real Living Wage rates are now worth over £2,262 more per year in the UK than the legal minimum, and over £4,700 more in London
Nearly £3.5bn in extra wages has gone to low paid workers since 2011

The Living Wage Foundation has revealed that the Real Living Wage will increase to £12.60 next year.

Almost half a million people working for more than 15,000 real Living Wage Employers throughout the country are set for a vital cost-of-living pay boost, as the real Living Wage rates rise to £12.60 an hour across the UK (60p or 5% increase), and £13.85 an hour in London (70p or 5.3% increase).

Recent research by the Living Wage Foundation shows that despite inflation easing, many of Britain’s 3.7m low paid workers are still struggling with the impact of years of high prices, with 42% having less than £10 left each week after covering essential expenses, 39% having used a food bank in the past year and 32% have skipped meals for financial reasons.

The real Living Wage vs the ‘National Living Wage’ – the difference

The real Living Wage is different to the government’s minimum wage rate, which for those over the age of 21 is often called the “National Living Wage”. It is a higher, voluntary rate that is independently calculated based solely on the actual cost of living. The Government’s rate is the legal minimum businesses are required to pay by law.

The real Living Wage applies to all workers over the age of 18 working for a Living Wage Employer and is £12.60 an hour. The ‘National Living Wage’ applies to those over the age of 21 and is worth £11.44 an hour.

A full-time worker earning the new, real Living Wage would earn £2,262 a year more than a worker earning the current government minimum (NLW), and £1,170 more than their current pay. In London, a full-time worker on the new real Living Wage rate would earn an additional £4,700 a year compared to a worker on the current NLW, and £1,365 more than their current pay.

Despite the economic challenges, in the past three years record numbers of employers have signed up to pay the real Living Wage, including to their third-party contractors like cleaners and security guards, with 1 in 9 employees now working for an accredited Living Wage Employer.

There are now over 15,000 Living Wage Employers, with recent accreditations including Pieminister, Fred Perry and the National Theatre. They join half of the FTSE 100 companies, household names like Aviva, Everton FC, Ikea, Burberry and LUSH as well as thousands of small businesses, who are choosing to pay the real Living Wage to provide workers and families with greater security and stability.

There are now 180 Living Hours Employers, including abrdn, Aviva, and West Brom Building Society, going beyond payment of the real Living Wage to also provide a guaranteed minimum of 16 hours work a week, a month’s notice of shift patterns and a contract that reflects hours worked.

Over 50 employers who want to ensure their workers never face poverty in retirement are signed up to the Living Wage Foundation’s Living Pension accreditation. Living Pension Employers provide a Living Pension savings level using either a cash (£2,950) or percentage (12%) target, with a minimum of 7%, or £1,720, contribution coming from the employer.

Katherine Chapman, Living Wage Foundation Director, said: “Low paid workers have been hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis and are still struggling to stay afloat amidst persistently high prices.

“The real Living Wage remains the only UK wage rate calculated based on actual living costs, and the new rates announced today will make a massive difference to almost half a million workers who will see their pay increase.

“It’s a challenging time for businesses too, which is why it is so encouraging to see the Living Wage movement continue to grow at pace. This year, we reached the major milestone of 15,000 accredited Living Wage Employers – with half of them signing up since 2021.

“Employers who want to go beyond the Government’s minimum wage and ensure their workers are paid in line with the real cost of living can look to these leading employers and accredit with the Living Wage Foundation.”

The City of Edinburgh Council is a Living Wage employer.

Responding to the news, Councillor Jane Meagher, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “Thousands of workers across Edinburgh are set for a boost in pay from May thanks to the new Living Wage rate.

“Helping our city’s workers as the cost of living soars, the rate set by the Living Wage Foundation will rise by 60p to £12.60 an hour across the UK.

“Too many people in our city have been pushed into deprivation because of insecure work. It really can happen to any of us and that is why the Living Wage is such a powerful tool for making sure people are paid fairly for their work.

“Considering the increasing pressures businesses are also under, we are so appreciative of the way Edinburgh employers continue to lead the way in Scotland, making Living Wage the norm.”

The city council is supporting calls for fairer pay in local government.

Following agreement by the Policy and Strategy Committee, the Council Leader will write to the Scottish and UK Governments requesting new funding for local councils to support a pay award for all workers, in line with calls from trade unions.

Council Leader Cammy Day said: “There are 80,000 people living in poverty in Edinburgh and because of the soaring cost of living, in-work poverty is rising. One of the most effective ways we can prevent hardship is to provide people with a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

“We have close to 20,000 Council workers keeping our city clean, safe and moving and we’re calling on Government to properly and fully fund a fair pay award for each one.”

City of Edinburgh Council “must listen and act on community views”

It is crucial that the City of Edinburgh Council continues to engage with and then act on the views of its residents and communities as it considers options to make the significant savings needed, says spending watchdog the Accounts Commission.

The council isn’t alone in Scottish local government in having to make substantial savings. But the scale of savings needed – over £100 million by 2029 – means senior officers and councillors must work together to find sustainable ways to deliver differently, improve performance and ultimately reduce costs.

The council has ambitious plans to borrow money to improve housing and school buildings. But this will need to be managed carefully to ensure that plans are affordable and don’t have a detrimental impact on services.

Progress has been made since the Commission last reported, and many services are performing well. But now the council must address declining performance in areas including housing, waste and some aspects of street cleaning.

The Accounts Commission recognises the council’s ambitious plans to end poverty and become a net zero city by 2030.

Given current progress, however, there remains a significant amount of work to achieve these targets, not least in establishing cost implications.

Jo Armstrong, Chair of the Accounts Commission said: “We cannot underestimate the scale of financial challenge.

“The council has successfully achieved savings over recent years. But given increasing demand and financial pressures, the council must accelerate its transformation and change programme.

“Listening to and acting on the views of staff and local communities will be vital.

“The council has real opportunities, including the potential to raise more income. It shouldn’t use the potential of future income, however, to delay making difficult decisions now as challenges will only intensify.”

Council Leader, Cammy Day, said: “We’re encouraged by the Commission’s findings, which recognise the good progress the Council has made since 2020.

“We’ve delivered a lot of change at a time of huge pressure on our services and on our budget, but we’ve stayed true to our priorities of protecting day-to-day services and investing in a fairer, greener future. Our aims to eradicate poverty and become net-zero by 2030 are ambitious, but we need to be aspirational to make sure they stay at the top of our priority list.

“Our focus on getting the basics right for our residents, meanwhile, is also bearing fruit with Edinburgh now a top performing Council in Scotland for street cleanliness, and continued improvements in key areas such as road conditions.

“We acknowledge, however, that there is still much more to be done and we’ve targeted substantial additional resources into key services such as housing, where we know performance has to improve if we are to tackle Edinburgh’s housing emergency.

“We’re continuing to adopt new technologies to make it easier for residents to come to us for help and, as recognised in the report, we’re looking forward to realising the huge benefits our Visitor Levy proposals will bring from 2026 – which we forecast will raise over £100m for the city by 2030.

“It’s no secret, however, that ever more difficult financial decisions lie ahead. Despite the unique pressures that come with being Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh remains the lowest funded council per head in Scotland, which is having a huge impact on our finances.

“The latest projections show that we will face a budget shortfall of at least £30m next year and we’ll need to work even harder to ensure we can keep on delivering best value for the people of Edinburgh.”

coa_241024_city_of_edinburgh_council Download

Reminder: Community Planning ‘Transformation’ Events

Invitation to Participate in Community Planning Transformation and Improvement Stakeholder Engagement Session

The Edinburgh Partnership agreed to look afresh at the role of Community Planning in Edinburgh to maximise the relationships between public sector agencies and the voluntary and community sectors to address poverty and inequality and the climate and nature emergency.

We need your views to help shape the future of community planning in Edinburgh.

These sessions aim to bring together key partners to discuss, plan, and drive forward positive changes for communities. Your insights and contributions are highly valued, and we would be pleased if you could join us.

Spaces are limited, so we encourage you to book your place as soon as possible to secure your spot at your preferred session.

To register, please email communityplanning@edinburgh.gov.uk with your name, contact details, and the date of the session you would like to attend:

Wednesday, 23rd October | 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM | St. Bride’s Community Centre

Thursday, 24th October | 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

Monday, 28^th October | 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Microsoft Teams

Challenge Poverty Week: Change is possible, says Public Health Scotland

This Challenge Poverty Week, Public Health Scotland’s CEO, Paul Johnston explains how PHS are advocating for a Scotland where everyone has access to an adequate income to enable a healthy standard of living:

Living in poverty is detrimental to health and one of the main causes of poor health and health inequalities, with negative consequences for children and adults. Policy changes which impact on the drivers of poverty (income from employment, income from social security and the cost of living) have the potential to impact on population health and health inequalities.

Since 2010 a series of changes have been implemented to the UK (reserved) social security system. An intention of The Welfare Reform Act 2012 which triggered these changes was to help people into work and reduce poverty for adults and children, which in turn would lead to improvements in health.

Policies included reduced financial support to low-income families with three or more children and increased conditionality for lone parents. These are families who already have an increased risk of living in poverty.

Since 2013, Public Health in Scotland (PHS) has been monitoring the economic and health trends associated with Welfare Reform. Our latest report Improving Lives? highlights that the anticipated improvements to income and health from Welfare Reform have not been realised for people in Scotland.

Aspects of health have worsened or remained unchanged since 2010 and importantly, many of these trends pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic. These trends were also observed for the rest of the UK. A forthcoming PHS systematic review found that for people exposed to the changes, UK Welfare Reform made mental health worse, and had no positive effect on physical health.

While some working-age families and children benefitted from Welfare Reform (through increased employment), these gains were offset by those who were harmed by the changes.

This is concerning, especially as our report shows that population groups most likely to be affected by these changes are the groups who are already more likely to be at risk of or experiencing poverty. We know from 2013 that the relative child poverty rates in Scotland increased after a period of decline.

Evidence also tells us that mental health problems became more prevalent, especially after 2015, while health inequalities have risen. The period also saw stalled improvement or worsening trends in financial insecurity and long-term sickness.

This Challenge Poverty Week, we are advocating for a Scotland where everyone has access to an adequate income to enable a healthy standard of living. This will help to create a Scotland where everybody thrives.

A number of changes are needed to make this happen. These include promoting quality employment which supports good health. Almost 19% of employees in Scotland aged 18-55 are in poor quality work, and most working-age adults and children in poverty live in a household where someone works.

We also need to ensure our social security system protects people’s mental health and wellbeing. This could include an Essentials Guarantee to protect people from hardship, supported by 72% of the population.

It could also include improved support for working-age adults with health problems, especially mental health problems.

We know that change is possible.

During 1997–2010 policy choices by the UK government directed financial support at children and pensioners and as a result poverty fell for both of these groups. This period also saw increased employment rates translate into improved mental health for lone parents. This proves that we can make a difference to people’s lives through social security and employment policies.

In Scotland, child poverty rates are lower than many other UK nations. In Scotland, we are doing things differently to tackle child poverty.

The Scottish Government estimates that around 100,000 children will be kept out of poverty as a result of the Scottish Child Payment this year and low-income families are being further supported with the costs of pregnancy and looking after children through Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods payments.

Scotland is delivering a strengthened employment offer to parents, to provide holistic support and address specific barriers to enable more parents to gain and progress in work. This along with focussed action to create a Fair Work Nation, which includes supporting more employers to pay the living wage, provides a platform to build on, to support more parents to escape poverty.

Learning and evidence from past UK policy approaches and Scotland’s actions to tackle child poverty should be used to inform further policy changes to address poverty and improve health.

It is imperative that providing an effective social security safety net for when families need it and creating high quality, flexible employment opportunities for parents, will be central to the UK’s child poverty strategy going forward.