The Scottish Government needs to act urgently if it is to have a realistic chance of meeting its child poverty targets, the Commission has warned.
As part of its recommendations on what should be included in the Scottish Government’s third Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, the Commission says meeting the 2030 targets will need bold policies and ‘very significant’ investment. As this will be the final delivery plan produced by the Scottish Government before those targets need to be met, its impact must be swift and wide-ranging.
Professor Stephen Sinclair, Chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission, said:
“The Scottish Government has demonstrated a continued commitment to eradicating child poverty, underlined by the First Minister restating it as the most important policy objective for his government.
“Its actions, particularly the Scottish Child Payment, have had a direct and positive impact on children’s wellbeing and child poverty rates.
“But the time until the targets need to be met is now short and urgent action is imperative. The Commission has made numerous recommendations over the years about the action needed to meet the targets, but there remains a chasm between the Scottish Government’s stated intent and outcomes.
“Meeting the targets is likely to require three or four bold policies/actions, along with several more specific smaller-scale actions.
“Political courage is now needed if we are not to miss the targets by a very wide margin. The truth is, Scotland cannot afford to allow child poverty to continue.”