Serious problems in tackling root causes of poverty in Scotland, say authors of latest analysis

Poverty in Scotland is reducing for children and pensioners but not among working-age adults. And substantial problems in ill health and low educational achievement by many children still exist.

This is according to the authors of the Monitoring poverty and social exclusion in Scotland 2006 report from the New Policy Institute for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Since 1998/99, the proportion of children in income poverty in Scotland has fallen by around a quarter. Most of the fall in child poverty has been due to reduced poverty risks for both working and workless families, which in turn have been driven by increases in tax credits and in out-of-work benefits for families with children.  The movement of parents into work has played a secondary role.

Since the mid-1990s, the poverty rate for pensioners has come down from around 28% to 18% and this group now accounts for just one-sixth of all people in poverty.

In contrast, the poverty rate among working-age adults without dependent children has risen from around 15% in the mid-1990s to 18%, despite a fall in worklessness. Unlike children, the poverty risks for working-age adults in both working and workless households are higher than a decade ago. 

Two-fifths of working-age adults in poverty live in households where someone is in paid work, while two-thirds of low-paid employees are women. Many more women than men work part-time and such working patterns carry a high risk of low pay.

Low pay is most prevalent in Dumfries & Galloway, Clackmannanshire and Moray.  This is very different to the picture for worklessness, which is most prevalent in West Central Scotland (Glasgow, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire).

“Although the rate of reduction in child poverty has been greater in Scotland than in England, this is because there has only been small falls in child poverty in two particular English regions, namely London and the English West Midlands.  If these two regions are excluded, then the rates of reduction are similar,” said report co-author Guy Palmer.

In education, while the average tariff score in S4 Standard Grades has continued to improve over the last decade, the average score for the bottom fifth has remained unchanged since 1999.

• Although improving, rates of premature death in Scotland remain around a third higher than in England and Wales.
• From bank accounts to central heating, exclusion has fallen substantially in Scotland in recent years say the authors.

“Levels of poverty and social exclusion are largely similar in Scotland to most of the rest of Great Britain. But work opportunities and low pay are two particular areas where Scotland-specific initiatives could potentially make a real difference,” concluded co-author Peter Kenway.

The report is being published to coincide with the National Poverty Hearing on Wednesday 6 December, when faith leaders and other opinion formers from a broad range of organisations gather to hear directly from people who are living in poverty in the UK.

For further details please contact:

Peter Kenway (NPI Director):  020-7721 8421

Guy Palmer (NPI Director): 020 7721 8421

Notes to Editors:

1. The full report, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Scotland 2006 by Guy Palmer, Tom MacInnes and Peter Kenway is published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Separate reports by the same team, looking at the UK as a whole (2006), Northern Ireland (2006) and Wales (2005) are also available.
2. All the indicators and graphs can also be viewed at www.poverty.org.uk where the graphs are updated as new data becomes available.
3. National Poverty Hearing details: 6 December, Westminster Central Hall, London SW1. Media contact: Rachel Jury, 0141 353 0440
4. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK. It supports a research and development programme that seeks to understand the causes of social difficulties and explore ways of overcoming them.

Additional MOPSE findings in Scotland:

1. Two-thirds of working-age disabled people are not in paid work. Half of all those aged 25 to retirement who are not working are disabled. 
2. Relative to earnings, out-of-work benefits for working-age adults without children are now worth 20% less than in 1997.
3. The proportion of 19 year-olds who fail to reach the level of SVQ2 or equivalent is, at 25%, the same as a decade ago.  
4. Children born to parents from manual backgrounds are twice as likely to die in their first year as those born to parents from non-manual backgrounds.
5. The proportion of low-income households without central heating has halved over the last decade and is now similar to that for households on average incomes.
6. The proportion of low-income households without a bank account is a third of what it was a decade ago.
7. People on low incomes are twice as likely to feel unsafe walking alone in their area at night as those on above average incomes.
8. A third of low-income households lack home contents insurance compared with virtually no households on above-average incomes.
9. After rising for a decade, the number of single-person households accepted as homeless has now stabilised.

Issued by Nasreen Memon, JRF Head of Media Relations: 01904 615 958 / 020 7278 9665 / nasreen.memon@jrf.org.uk