“Stark gaps” in educational attainment risk being compounded by Covid, warns new Poverty Alliance report

Anti-poverty campaigners have today called for increased action from the Scottish Government to tackle the educational attainment gap, after new analysis (which can be read in full here) found stark gaps in attainment between young people from Scotland’s least and most deprived areas. The analysis, undertaken by the Poverty Alliance on behalf of The Robertson … Read more

End Child Poverty coalition launches Holyrood election manifesto

All political parties in Scotland should commit to at least doubling the value of the new Scottish Child Payment to stem the rising tide of child poverty, a coalition of anti-poverty groups, children’s charities and women’s organisations have urged today. The End Child Poverty coalition in Scotland made the call in A Manifesto for Ending … Read more

Real Living Wage increases to £9.50 in Scotland

45,600 workers in Scotland set to benefit from vital pay boost Almost £240 million in extra wages has gone to low-paid workers in Scotland thanks to the Living Wage movement, including over £42 million since the start of lockdown.  Over 34,000people in key worker industries in Scotland have benefitted from over £192 million in extra wages since … Read more

Poverty Alliance Annual Conference 2020

Never the Same Again? Addressing Poverty After the Pandemic Poverty Alliance Annual Conference, 9 October 2020 (online) The coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on many of aspects of social injustice in our society. It has highlighted the importance of our social security system in providing a lifeline when we need it most, but the … Read more

Programme for Government ‘fails to adequately respond’ to rising tide of child poverty in Scotland, say End Child Poverty coalition

A coalition of anti-poverty organisations and children’s charities have today said that the decision not to bring forward an urgent cash boost to families living in poverty in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, “fails to adequately respond”  to rising levels of poverty that risk overwhelming Scotland’s communities in the coming months as a result … Read more

New report suggests Scotland faces soaring child poverty without urgent action, End Child Poverty coalition warns

Campaigners have repeated their calls for the Scottish Government to provide an urgent cash boost to low income families struggling amid the pandemic. It comes as a new Scottish Government report detailing progress against Scotland’s child poverty targets – including cutting child poverty to less than 10% – reveals a worrying outlook for families. The … Read more

Poverty Alliance respond to new benefit cap statistics

The Poverty Alliance have today responded to new statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions, which show that between February 2020 and May 2020 there was a 93% increase in the number of households impacted by the benefit cap. Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “Covid-19 has underlined how important our social … Read more

Poverty Alliance respond to Chancellor’s economic statement

The Poverty Alliance have responded to today’s economic update statement from Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “Young workers have been hard hit by Covid-19 job disruption, so the Chancellor’s announcement of a kickstart jobs scheme is welcome. But as the pandemic has highlighted, for too … Read more

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