Scotland has 5 years left to meet its child poverty targets. Today we publish our advice to @scotgov on what it can do to meet them. We will be sharing details of our recommendations here this week. Find our full advice and summary on our website: https://t.co/RHIxVtzeQx

To help tackle child poverty in Scotland, the UK Govt should: • End the 2-child limit&benefit cap • Remove/reduce 5-week wait for Universal Credit • Introduce an Essentials Guarantee • Improve Access to Work for disabled parents • Support a pilot to let asylum seekers work

Third sector organisations are vital to reducing poverty but are under strain. @scotgov should: • Offer multi-year funding • Support parity of employment with public sector • Support community&third sector access to public assets Full advice here: https://t.co/RHIxVtzeQx

The Scottish Government's Whole Family Support approach must be more clearly defined. @scotgov should provide: • A theory of change on how it will reduce poverty • Evidence of impact • Continued investment in core poverty-reduction levers Full advice: https://t.co/RHIxVtzeQx

Some are excluded from support due to immigration rules. @scotgov should: • Review eligibility rules for services & benefits • Fund legal advice for those with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) • Ensure consistent support across Scotland Full advice: https://t.co/RHIxVtyH0Z

Families face rising costs for essentials like food, fuel, & transport. @scotgov should: • Reinstate the Fuel Insecurity Fund • Use debt as a warning sign that support may be needed • Press the UK Govt to introduce an energy social tariff Full advice: https://t.co/RHIxVtzeQx

Housing costs drive poverty. @scotgov should: • Improve data on who benefits from affordable housing • Give more weight to private rental unaffordability when allocating social housing • Update standards to boost accessible housing Full advice here: https://t.co/RHIxVtyH0Z

Lack of childcare is a major barrier to work. @scotgov should work to: • Increase uptake for eligible 2-year-olds • Expand childcare for 1- & 2-year-olds, starting with low income families • Improve access for disabled households Full advice here: https://t.co/RHIxVtyH0Z

Current employability programmes aren’t reaching enough parents or delivering required outcomes. @scotgov should focus on & encourage: • More targeted, specialist support • Better collaboration with employers • Quality jobs, not any jobs Full advice: https://t.co/RHIxVtzeQx

Work should be a route out of poverty but too often isn’t. Scottish Government should: • Use public funding and other policy levers to drive fair work • Support disabled and other marginalised people to access good jobs Full advice here: https://t.co/RHIxVtyH0Z

Families need help to access the support they’re entitled to. Advice services are essential but underfunded. Scottish Government should: • Commit to long-term, secure funding • Identify barriers to support and fund what works • Offer better support for priority families

The Scottish Child Payment is helping many families but needs to go further. Scottish Government should: • Increase the payment • Extend to 16–19-year-olds in FT education • Reform the payment to avoid small changes in income leading to a sudden & significant loss of benefits

CPAG welcome @povinequalscot's formal advice to @scotgov ahead of the next delivery plan. Scottish Child Payment is "proven to be an effective way to reduce child poverty" and social security needs to play "a continued and increased role" to meet the targets and #EndChildPoverty

Scotland should commit to introducing a Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG), a safety net ensuring that no one falls below a decent standard of living. The Commission has called on @scotgov to implement the first steps of the MIG Expert Group's roadmap to a Minimum Income Guarantee.

PRESS RELEASE Campaigners welcome Poverty and Inequality Commission call for urgent action on child poverty

During our session last week, Prof Sinclair, Chair of @PovInequalScot, highlighted that education is widely seen as an investment in human capital and a pathway for families to improve their circumstances. Watch the video 👇

The Commission welcomes the publication of the final report by the independent Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group. It offers a radical vision of a Scotland where no-one’s income drops below a level required to live with dignity. https://t.co/HqYY0eQscm

The Commission has published its child poverty scrutiny report, giving its views on progress made during 2024-25 on meeting Scotland's statutory targets. https://t.co/4dQd5ZwzCo

Today @scotgov published Child Poverty Statistics for 2023-24. Figures show that: - some progress made, but interim targets missed - considerable work is required to meet the 2030 child poverty targets Read the response from our Chair, Stephen Sinclair: https://t.co/eXlL5UeXA3

Response from Professor Stephen Sinclair, Chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission, commenting on the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2025 to 2026.