Resources

Links to a range of useful policy and information documents are outlined below:

National Policies and Frameworks

UK-wide:

The Child Poverty Strategy 2014-2017. UK Government child poverty strategy, outlining plans for reducing child poverty and the root causes of poverty. June 2014.

A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families’ Lives. UK Government Child Poverty Strategy. Department for Work and Pensions Department for Education. HM Government, April 2011

The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets out UK-wide targets relating to the eradication of child poverty.  There are duties within the Act to ensure that child poverty UK 2020 targets are met.  These targets relate to levels of child poverty in terms of: relative low income, combined low income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty.

Scotland:

Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland - Our Approach 2014-2017 provides an update on the 2011 Scottish Government strategy for eradicating child poverty and reducing inequality, including income inequality.

Achieving our Potential. A framework to tackle poverty and income inequality in Scotland. Scottish Government, 2008. The Framework focuses on four areas: reducing income inequalities; measures to tackle poverty and the drivers of low income; supporting those experiencing poverty or at risk; making the tax credits and the benefits system work better for Scotland.

The Early Years Framework. This framework is about giving children the best start in life and the steps the Scottish Government, local partners and practitioners in early years services need to take to start us on that journey.

Equally Well, 2008 is the Scottish Government's framework aimed at reducing health inequalities within the Scottish population.

Getting it Right for Every Child is a set of principles demonstrating the Scottish approach to improving outcomes for children.

Reports

Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK 2016. The annual report on the state of poverty and social exclusion in the UK, Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Long-term monitoring of health inequalities. Scottish Government (March 2017). Annual publication on headline indicators following the Equally Well (2008) report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities. The gap in health outcomes between the most deprived and least deprived areas of Scotland is reported for a variety of indicators in both absolute and relative terms. The latest figures include data up to 2016 for most indicators.

Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Scotland 2015. Report focusing on low income, social security and unemployment, health, education, in-work poverty, low pay, housing and anti-poverty priorities and actions. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. March 2015.

Referendum Briefing: Child Poverty in Scotland. Comparison over time of child poverty in Scotland and England. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. February 2014.

Healthier, Wealthier Children: learning from an early intervention child poverty project.  Final evaluation report of the Healthier, Wealthier Children (HWC) project operating across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde since October 2010.  This innovative project achieved impressive financial and other gains for families with young children and has been mainstreamed within routine money advice, financial inclusion and housing information services in Glasgow city.

Child Poverty in 2012: It shouldn't happen here. Save the Children. This report shines a light on the experience of families living in poverty and sets out what children have said about their experiences of living in poverty.

Severe child poverty nationally and locally. Save the Children (Feb 2011). Severe child poverty estimates for each local authority area in Great Britain.

Relative poverty across Scottish Local Authorities, Scottish Government (August 2010). Figures on the proportion of households in relative poverty at LA level across Scotland.

Child and Working-Age Poverty from 2010 to 2020, Institute for Fiscal Studies. Analyses the effectiveness of government policy designed to alleviate - and eventually abolish - child poverty.

Maximising Opportunities: evaluation report of the Healthier, Wealthier Children (HWC) project, set up in October 2010 across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to establish links and referral pathways between health and money advice staff for families at risk of, or experiencing, poverty.

Measuring Severe Child Poverty in the UK. Save the Children. January 2010. Policy Brief: Evidence that the number of children living in severe poverty dramatically increased even before the recession. Call for action.

A Review of Devolved Approached to Child Poverty. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, October 2013. An overview of devolved strategies to tackle child poverty in the UK.

Networks and Groups

The Poverty Alliance  is a membership-based organisation which includes individuals facing poverty, grassroots community groups, voluntary organisations, statutory organisations, policy makers and academics. The Alliance acts as the national anti-poverty network in Scotland by working with a range of stakeholders at Scottish, UK and European levels.

CPAG – Child Poverty Action Group. CPAG, Scotland is also a membership-based organisation which seeks to raise awareness and promote solutions to child poverty through policy and campaigning activity, providing training and offering a range of specialist advice.

Other Useful Resources

End Child Poverty produce a UK map of child poverty each year, which compares local authorities and parliamentary constituencies.  Although not official government data they provide good, local estimates.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's A Scotland Without Poverty (2016) makes key recommendations on how families can be lifted out of poverty.