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Read the latest news on poverty in Scotland.

Programme for Government ‘fails to adequately respond’ to rising tide of child poverty in Scotland, say End Child Poverty coalition

A coalition of anti-poverty organisations and children’s charities have today said that the decision not to bring forward an urgent cash boost to families living in poverty in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, “fails to adequately respond”  to rising levels of poverty that risk overwhelming Scotland’s communities in the coming months as a result … Read more

New report suggests Scotland faces soaring child poverty without urgent action, End Child Poverty coalition warns

Campaigners have repeated their calls for the Scottish Government to provide an urgent cash boost to low income families struggling amid the pandemic. It comes as a new Scottish Government report detailing progress against Scotland’s child poverty targets – including cutting child poverty to less than 10% – reveals a worrying outlook for families. The … Read more

Poverty Alliance respond to new benefit cap statistics

The Poverty Alliance have today responded to new statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions, which show that between February 2020 and May 2020 there was a 93% increase in the number of households impacted by the benefit cap. Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “Covid-19 has underlined how important our social … Read more

Poverty Alliance respond to Chancellor’s economic statement

The Poverty Alliance have responded to today’s economic update statement from Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “Young workers have been hard hit by Covid-19 job disruption, so the Chancellor’s announcement of a kickstart jobs scheme is welcome. But as the pandemic has highlighted, for too … Read more

BLOG: It’s time to scrap the cap

In this blog Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, urges the Chancellor of the Exchequer to use his economic update statement to commit to scrapping the benefit cap, as the first step toward a more just social security system and a more just economic recovery. Today we expect to hear more from the Chancellor, … Read more

Poverty Alliance call on Chancellor to scrap the benefit cap

Ahead of a statement today by Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the UK’s economic recovery, the Poverty Alliance have written to him calling for the statement to be used to end the benefit cap, as a first step toward a more just social security system and a more just economic recovery. The letter … Read more

New report: How well is Universal Credit Supporting People in Glasgow

A new report based on research undertaken by Poverty Alliance and University of Glasgow for Joseph Rowntree Foundation details the hardship and anxiety people in Glasgow faced during the initial roll-out of Universal Credit last year. Our social security system was designed to be an anchor to provide stability during hard times. With three million … Read more

Response to Scottish Government’s Economic Recovery Advisory Group Recommendations

Responding to the Scottish Government’s Economic Recovery Advisory Group Recommendations, Peter Kelly, Director of Poverty Alliance said: “Scotland entered this pandemic with an economy that was marked by stark levels of inequality that have made worse the impact of the crisis and still hamper recovery. Addressing inequality will be vital as we redesign our economy … Read more

Exploring the use of Flexible Educational Arrangements in Fife

Findings from a small-scale exploratory research project on the use of Flexible Educational Arrangements[1] in Fife published today by the Poverty Alliance provides important insights into young people and their families’ experiences of part-time school timetables. This research is particularly timely given the current debate about the impact of Covid-19 on education, and planned combinations … Read more

Building back better: the impacts of COVID-19 on our economy and health

Guest blog by Dr Gerry McCartney, Head of the Scottish Public Health Observatory, Public Health Scotland   Our top priority is protecting and improving the nation’s health throughout the coronavirus outbreak and after. While our NHS works steadily to care for those who have been infected and are vulnerable to infection, we are also ensuring that … Read more

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