Continue reading Deprivation has a negative impact on the health of people with Type 1 diabetes
A coalition of charities have urged the Government to take urgent steps to protect people and places in poverty from the financial consequences of Brexit, including no-deal. Continue reading People in poverty must not pay the price for Brexit, say charities
Edinburgh Poverty Commission was launched in November 2018 and will be working throughout this year to define the steps the city needs to make to reduce, mitigate, and prevent poverty in Edinburgh. Continue reading Edinburgh Poverty Commission: call for evidence
Two reports out today show that the increase in life expectancy that has shown steady progress in Scotland since the Second World War, has now stalled and that health inequalities have worsened.
In the past seven years, Scotland has seen the slowest growth in life expectancy, since at least the late 1970s and death rates have now begun to rise for people living in our poorest areas. Continue reading “Unravelling”: Stalling life expectancy is a warning light for public health in Scotland
Students and members of the public are invited to attend a tackling poverty and inequality conference at the College’s Granton Campus next week. Continue reading Poverty Conference at Granton Campus
“an unconditional, automatic and nonwithdrawable payment to each individual as a right of citizenship”
IS IT TIME FOR A BASIC INCOME?
A new report published today by the Carnegie UK Trust sets out the key questions to be addressed to pave the way for a successful basic income pilot in Scotland. Continue reading New report sets out lessons for a Scottish Basic Income pilot
Cities have borne nearly three-quarters (74%) of all real-terms local government funding cuts in the last decade despite being home to just 54% of the population, according to Centre for Cities’ annual Cities Outlook 2019 report – the Centre’s annual health check on UK city economies. Continue reading Austerity: Council spending has fallen by half since 2010
Positive progress on equal access to higher education
A record number of full time first degree students at Scottish universities were from the most deprived areas in Scotland last year.
New figures show that, in 2017/18, 15.6% of students entering university were from the 20% most deprived areas. This is 0.4% short of the Government’s target for 2021.
Last year also saw an increase in the total number of Scottish students enrolling in Scottish universities.
The statistics, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), show the latest progress in the drive to widen access to higher education.
Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead said: “These statistics highlight the good progress being made on widening access to higher education. I’m pleased to see more Scots going to university here and a record increase in entrants from our most deprived areas.
“Combined with recent UCAS statistics, this shows demonstrable progress towards giving every young person in Scotland an equal chance of success, no matter their background or circumstance.
“It is also great to see a record number of enrolments and an increased number of qualifications achieved in 2017/18. All of this speaks to the level of excellence found across our higher education institutions.”
Between 2016/17 and 2017/18:
Following the Commission on Widening Access, a target was set that, by 2021, 16% of students entering university will be from Scotland’s most deprived backgrounds, increasing to 20% by 2030. At 15.6% for 2017/18, this is just 0.4 percentage points off the 2021 target.
The latest UCAS statistics from the 2018 End of Cycle Report showed an increase in acceptances for 18 year old students from deprived backgrounds.
The full set of information on 2017/18 enrolments published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency is available as an interactive publication.
A reception to mark Granton Information Centre’s pioneering work in establishing advice provision in healthcare settings was held at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday. Continue reading GIC’s pioneering work celebrated at Holyrood
Britain is going into Brexit with half a million more children trapped in poverty, following a relentless rise in the number of working families struggling to make ends meet over the last five years. It means in a typical classroom of 30 children, NINE are now living in poverty.
The assessment comes in a state of the nation report by the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), the leading authority on poverty in the UK.
UK Poverty 2018 examines how poverty has changed over the last 20 years, providing the most comprehensive and up to date picture of the challenges and prospects facing low income families.
Overall, one in five of the UK population (22%) are in poverty – 14.3 million people. Of these, 8.2 million are working-age adults, 4.1 million are children and 1.9 million are pensioners. Eight million people live in poverty in families where at least one person is in work.
In-work poverty has been rising even faster than employment, with nearly all of the increase among working parents. There are now four million workers in poverty, around one in eight in the economy.
