Child poverty in the UK and Scotland

6 Aug 2026 10:58 AM

This report provides an evidence-based baseline to better understand child poverty rates across the UK nations and the respective contributions of Scottish and UK Government policies to tackling child poverty since 2010 in Scotland.

Introduction

Child poverty across the UK is a persistent issue. While child poverty has fallen since the late 1990s, levels remain high, with 28% of children living in relative poverty after housing costs across the UK in 2022-25. There are variations in poverty rates across the UK. Scotland has consistently recorded lower proportions of children living in relative and absolute poverty after housing costs than the UK as a whole, with levels of persistent poverty and combined low income and material deprivation also lower in Scotland.

The 2025 Autumn Budget and the publication of the UK Government’s Child Poverty Strategy in December 2025 have altered the policy outlook across the UK. The Autumn Budget committed to removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit from April 2026, with this policy action alone expected to reduce the number of children in relative poverty by around 450,000 by 2029-30 across the UK, compared with what it otherwise would have been. Alongside this, the UK Government’s Child Poverty Strategy sets out a renewed UK-wide approach to addressing the drivers of child poverty across the UK. This represents the first UK Government Child Poverty Strategy published since 2014.

This focus report is undertaken at a timely point, aiming to provide an evidence-based baseline against which we can better understand the key contributions of Scottish and wider UK Government policies to tackle child poverty. In doing so, it enables the Scottish Government to establish a baseline for assessing future change, and begin the analytical process of disentangling the respective impacts of devolved and reserved policy levers on child poverty outcomes in Scotland.

Methodology

The overarching aim is to explore child poverty reduction measures in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK since 2010. Specifically, the report will aim to address the following research questions:

1. What are the trends in child poverty over time between Scotland and the UK as a whole? Where and how do these trends differ?

2. What strategic approaches have been taken by governments across the UK since 2010 to tackle child poverty? How do these approaches differ in scope?

3. To what extent can changes in child poverty outcomes in Scotland be attributed to UK Government policy action since 2010? Which policies have made significant contributions?

To address the research questions, the project adopts a three-strand approach:

1. Trends analysis. A review of quantitative data, and descriptive analysis, to examine child poverty trends over time across Scotland and the rest of UK.

2. Strategy overview. A brief contextual overview of strategic approaches to tackling child poverty adopted by the UK Government and the devolved governments since 2010.

3. Rapid evidence review. A review of the available evidence to understand policy action relating to the drivers of child poverty across the UK since 2010. The drivers of child poverty are: employment; social security; and, the cost of living.

Throughout this report, the UK is used as the unit for reporting on UK-wide poverty data and policy action. As England does not have a devolved government, references to the UK in policy terms should be understood as reflecting policy decisions which primarily apply in England, alongside reserved matters that also affect Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Where analysis or reporting relates specifically to England-only policy or outcomes, this is explicitly stated.

Details of the methodology underpinning this work is provided in Appendix A.

Report structure

This report begins by examining poverty trends across the UK since 2010, before moving on to provide a contextual overview of strategic approaches to tackling child poverty across the UK and devolved nations.

The following three chapters consider the drivers of child poverty in turn and explore key policies that may have contributed to divergence or convergence in outcomes in child poverty between Scotland and the UK. A further chapter explores policies aimed at supporting children and families to thrive, recognising this is not a direct driver of poverty, but it plays an important role in shaping outcomes and mitigating impacts. Each of these four chapters identifies policy learnings, examples of good practice, possible areas for collaboration and gaps in provision. The final chapter offers conclusions.

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