We welcome the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018-2022

NHS Health Scotland welcomes the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan (external site), published on 29th March, 2018. We particularly welcome the strong focus on action to address the drivers of child poverty.  We know that there is strong evidence of the effects that income from work, social security and cost of living have on health outcomes for children. Children living in the most deprived areas of Scotland experience significantly worse health outcomes than children living in the least deprived areas. 

Kerry McKenzie, NHS Health Scotland’s Organisational Lead for Child Poverty said

“It is unacceptable that one in four children in Scotland are now living in poverty. Current projections of child poverty rates and the consequent increases in poverty levels mean that there is an imperative to do all that we can to tackle this issue. In A Fairer Scotland Action Plan, we set out our commitment to helping the Scottish Government in its ambition to end child poverty in Scotland.

The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018-22 sets out the action we will take, including working with partners to embed referral pathways to financial inclusion advice services in health care settings, to reduce the number of children living in poverty. It is in everyone’s interests to make Scotland the best place to grow up.”