This paper identifies a subset of necessities from the full set used in the PSE deprivation index which accurately identifies individuals seen as deprived by the full set - at least down to the level of the most deprived 15%.
Comparing people’s actual living standards with the minimum standards which the public thinks everyone should have, there are in Scotland:
• almost one million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions
• 800,000 people are too poor to engage in common social activities
• over a quarter of a million children and adults aren’t properly fed.
The percentage of households falling below society's minimum standard of living has increased from 14% to 33% over the last 30 years, despite the size of the economy doubling. In Scotland today, when we compare people's actual living standards with the minimum standards which the public thinks everyone should have, we find that:
The latest edition of Poverty in Scotland, 2014, sets out to inform the independence debate in Scotland, providing the latest facts and figures and looking at how other regions and nations have tackled the problem. Gerry Mooney gives an overview.
Plans to tackle child poverty in Scotland have been published by the Scottish Government. The new strategy, which covers the period 2014 to 2017, is aimed at tackling the causes of poverty by addressing them early.
The Scottish Government said that although child poverty in Scotland has fallen in recent years, it is set to increase to levels last seen in 2003-04 due to the impact of benefits reforms introduced by the coalition government in London.
A new campaign aimed at highlighting the 'humanitarian crisis' caused by poverty in Scotland has been launched by a group of charities.
The campaign will seek to raise awareness of the scale and impact of poverty on people living in Scotland.
Organisations behind the 'Scotland's Outlook' campaign include Macmillan, Shelter Scotland, Oxfam, Alzheimer Scotland, Children’s Hospice Association Scotland, the Child Poverty Action Group, the Poverty Alliance and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).
Martin Sime, SCVO Chief Executive, said: 'With nearly a million people in Scotland living in poverty, we have a humanitarian crisis on our hands and we need everyone’s help to tackle it. Thousands of people are turning to food banks, struggling to heat their homes, and to clothe themselves and their children... We want people to wake up to the poverty storm that’s engulfing Scotland and get active in the fight against it'.
Child poverty in Scotland fell by 10 percentage points in the 10 years to 2011-12 – about twice the fall in England – according to a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Further reductions in child poverty, it says, hinge on tackling poverty among workless families, where poverty levels remain very high.
Scotland faces significant challenges in closing its 'inequality gap', according to new research carried out by University of Stirling academics.
The research team's work on inequality uses a new model of the Scottish economy to analyse taxes and spending among Scottish households.