In what could be considered ironic timing, on the day after we celebrated 5 years of empowering parents to work, study, or train, yesterday the Scottish Government released their latest report giving three-year averaged estimates of the proportion of people, children, working-age adults and pensioners in Scotland living in poverty, along with other statistics on household income and income inequality.
Poverty levels in Scotland are generally measured as relative poverty after housing costs. Relative poverty is when household income is less than 60% of the UK median figure for the same year. Absolute poverty is when household income is less than 60% of the inflation-adjusted UK median income in 2010/11. People are in absolute poverty if they live in a household whose equivalised income is below this amount.
Yesterday’s report states that levels of child poverty have been broadly stable over the last decade and estimates that 23% of Scotland’s children (240,000 children each year) were living in relative poverty in 2021-24. That’s little or no change in 10 years! The report also notes that 20% (200,000 children each year) were living in absolute poverty. Of these children, it is estimated that three-quarters were living in working households.
Yet we know that empowering parents to work by removing barriers related to childcare helps to lift them out of poverty, 97% of parents using our flexible childcare services report being better off financially, last year that financial benefit equated to close to £2 million in the pockets of some of Scotland’s lowest income families. We have multiple case studies showing the positive impact for family finances, health, and wellbeing, of being able to work.
Our CEO, Susan McGhee, shares her thoughts on why are there still so many children from working households living in poverty and what can we do about it?
“This report is so disappointing, yet it is not unexpected. If we want to see a different outcome, we need to do things differently. Here are some of the possible reasons working parents don’t have enough money for their family:
- In order to work they are paying for rigid childcare sessions, meaning they pay for more hours than they need.
- Rates of pay are too low. We know that there are still too many employers paying below the Living Wage.
- Too many parents don’t have the option to work flexibly, thus further increasing their childcare costs.
- Concerns remain around the cost of the school day, with events that take place in schools or childcare services requiring parents to spend more of their household budget.”
So, what can we do about it?
- We can ensure policy drives service delivery in a manner that empowers parents to earn more and spend less. Put simply we build flexibility into national childcare frameworks to ensure parents only pay for the hours they need. We back this up with fair, sustainable funding rates for government-funded Early Learning and Childcare. At FCSS we’ve done the hard work and we have the blueprint for sustainable, high quality, flexible childcare provision. We firmly believe this should be available for all parents who need it and can evidence the benefits it delivers. Check out our 2023/24 Social Impact report and our new 5 year strategic plan to find out more.
- We can get tougher on low pay, and where there are contractual requirements to pay the living wage evidence should be sought. I’m not an expert on rates of pay around the country but I do know that a childcare practitioner working in a local authority position and a childcare practitioner working in a private, voluntary, or independent (PVI) service are often paid hugely disparate salaries, that seems to me inherently unfair, and something that should be addressed through fairer funding to support fairer pay. That’s just one example, but I’m sure the same applies across many sectors.
- We can ensure parent friendly working policies are in place, check out the Flex for Life 2025 Parents Report from Flexibility Works, which explains that “Nearly half of unemployed parents are not applying for roles they’re interested in because flexible working isn’t mentioned, and a third have turned down job offers because of a lack of flex.” And that “46% of mothers who say they’re working below their skillset say this is directly because they can’t find the flexibility they need to work at a higher level.”
- And we can stop schools and childcare services from running costly events, remembering that when parents are already struggling to buy food for their family, asking them to contribute to the cost of events, or buy fancy dress outfits, is often an impossible ask, creating further inequities for the children who are inevitably the ones who miss out. After all what does an event like World Book Day have to do with boosting the coffers of superstores and online retailers to buy dress up outfits? Surely, it’s about the books.
