Private Roundtable: Tackling child poverty: lessons learned from Scotland

From a historic low in 2010-11, child poverty has been on the rise across the UK to a point today where almost a third of children are living in poverty. In response to the UK Government scrapping child poverty reduction targets in 2016, the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act, setting legally binding poverty reduction targets for Scotland. However, while legislation sets an important and necessary target to aspire to, it requires political will and investment to achieve. 

This session explored the political and policy context around efforts to tackle child poverty in Scotland, the potential barriers to success faced in Scotland because of UK Government actions, and opportunities for cross-UK efforts to learn from the Scottish experience and put in place the necessary means to tackle poverty in all four nations. 

Our speakers included:

• Kirsty McNeill, Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Save the Children
• Chris Birt, Associate Director, JRF Scotland
• Rachel Statham, Associate Director for Work and Welfare State, IPPR
• Chair: Philip Whyte, Director, IPPR Scotland

If you are interested in attending or would like more information on this event, please contact [email protected].