WIREDGOV

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland.

Six in ten people in relative poverty in Scotland were in severe or extreme poverty in 2012/13. Analysis by the Scottish Government shows of the 820,000 people in relative poverty in 2012/13, 510,000 were in severe poverty and 230,000 were in extreme poverty. In 2012/13, 10 per cent of the population were living in severe poverty, and 4 per cent were living in extreme poverty.

After housing costs, the extent of severe and extreme poverty is more evident, with 710,000 people in severe poverty after housing costs, and 500,000 in extreme poverty after housing costs in 2012/13. In 2012/13, 14 per cent of the population were living in severe poverty after housing costs, and 10 per cent were living in extreme poverty after housing costs.

Working age adults and children were more likely to live in severe poverty than pensioners, particularly after housing costs. In 2012/13, 10 per cent of working age adults and 10 per cent of children were living in severe poverty, as were 8 per cent of pensioners. After housing costs, 16 per cent of working age adults, 15 per cent of children and 6 per cent of pensioners in Scotland were living in severe poverty.

Over the last decade, while the rate of relative poverty has fallen, a greater proportion of households in poverty were in severe or extreme low income in 2012/13. This is especially the case after housing costs: in 2012/13, 50 per cent of people in poverty in Scotland lived in extreme low income after housing costs, compared with 36 per cent in 2002/03.

Employment is no longer a guarantee against poverty. While being in employment significantly reduces the risk of poverty, 44 per cent of working age adults in extreme poverty lived in households where at least one adult was in employment, as did 60 per cent of children. Half of children living in extreme poverty were in households where at least one adult was in full time employment.

Notes To Editors

The full statistical publication is available at:

www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/03/4673

This publication contains information on the depth of poverty in Scotland. Figures presented here are from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Family Resources Survey, Households Below Average Income dataset. Further information on income and poverty statistics within Scotland can be accessed at:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/IncomePoverty

Relative poverty (before housing costs) is the most commonly used poverty indicator by the UK and Scottish Governments, and is defined as households with incomes below 60% of the UK median income. This analysis takes two main approaches to considering the depth of poverty. It considers applying lower poverty thresholds of 50% UK median income (defined as severe poverty) and 40% UK median income (defined as extreme poverty). It then investigates the depth of poverty for all those in relative poverty, in the context of a decade of falling rates of poverty, by applying income bands (low income, severe low income, and extreme low income) to investigate changes in the depth of poverty over the last decade.

All analysis is based on equivalised household income, before and after housing costs. Equivalisation is the process by which household income is adjusted to take into account variations in the size and composition of the households in which individuals live. This reflects the notion that, in order to enjoy a comparable standard of living, larger households will need a higher income than smaller households. The process of adjusting income in this way is known as equivalisation and is needed in order to make sensible income comparisons between households.