Million Scots in poverty, claims report

from The Scotsman

EBEN HARRELL

ALMOST 20 per cent of all Scots - nearly one million people - are living in poverty, according to a report to be published today.

More than 200,000 of these impoverished Scots are "working poor" - employed, but unable to make a living wage, the report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds.

The report uses an EU-endorsed definition of relative poverty - an income less than 60 per cent of the national average - different from the type of absolute poverty found in the third world.

Even so, the report paints a bleak picture of the estimated 900,000 children, adults and pensioners struggling to make ends meet; the annual income after tax for an impoverished single adult, according to the report's definition of poverty, is £5,000 a year.

The report, titled Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Scotland, highlights several successes in Scotland, which last year met the UK government's target set in 1998 to reduce child poverty by a quarter. Across the UK as a whole, the target was missed. Since the mid-1990s, the poverty rate for pensioners has also come down in Scotland from about 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

On the whole, Scotland, with its population of just over five million, slightly exceeds all UK-wide averages for poverty indicators. The report credits government initiatives such as reduced tax credits and out-of-work benefits for the successes. But its authors also criticise the Executive and Westminster for ignoring the 216,000 Scots who remain poor despite having jobs. Most of these "working poor" are women who take low-paying part-time jobs.

Guy Palmer, a director of the New Policy Institute think tank and one of the authors, said: "What this report shows is that where the government wants something to happen, it can make a difference. That's why I get a bit worked up over the working poor. Westminster should be looking at raising the minimum wage and the Executive should be leading the way by ensuring all of its employees make living wages."

A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "This report highlights some clear successes in the work of the Executive and statistics across the board speak for themselves.

"However, there is still work to be done. We are tackling poverty in Scotland through our Closing the Opportunity Gap approach, and working with the UK government on our target to eliminate child poverty by 2020. We want to prevent individuals and families from falling into poverty; provide routes out of poverty; and sustain individuals and families in a lifestyle free from poverty."

Tam Baillie, of Barnardo's Scotland, said: "The government should be given credit for moving significant numbers of children out of poverty. But it's a disgrace that one of the richest countries in the world still has families living in poverty. The government has to redouble its efforts to assist those families who are in deepest poverty."