A fifth of children in West Lothian are living in poverty, new research has found - with warnings that number could rise as the full effects the cost of living crisis come on the back of two years of pandemic.
In some parts of the county more than half of all children are living in poverty, according to the findings of a survey carried out by West Lothian Council’s Anti-Poverty Service.
The depute leader of the council said successive years of economic crisis had battered families, adding: “children are not in poverty alone, their parents are."
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In a report to the council Executive before the summer break Nahid Hanif, who manages the Anti-Poverty service said: “The 2023-2028 Anti-Poverty Strategy for West Lothian is in development and will support high level actions which will impact on the reduction of child poverty.
“In 2023 an area for development will be to explore better ways to align the new five-year West Lothian Anti-Poverty Strategy and Local Child Poverty Action Reports, ensuring that the focus of mitigating child poverty is not lost.”
The statistics make for grim reading. Parents struggling to keep body and soul together in poorly paid jobs and the youngest children falling behind in basic education.
The report highlighted: “The prevalence of child poverty was increasing pre- Covid, and while the data from 2020-2021 shows a slight decrease it is not known yet what the combined impact of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis will be.
“In the coming year data will help determine where and how to target activity, for example there are areas in West Lothian with rates of child poverty over 50%” .
Headline statistics revealed in the survey showed:
- 21% of children experience relative poverty
- 12% of the West Lothian population is income deprived
- 75.1% of working age adults are in work
- 18% of employees earn below the Living Wage
- 19% of residents experience fuel poverty - that is fuel bills which are more than of 10% of income after housing costs
- 9% of residents experience extreme fuel poverty - fuel bills over 20% of income after housing.
Ms Hanif said that child poverty was also reflected in educational attainment.
She added: “The data shows that inequalities remain between pupils from the most deprived areas compared to pupils living in the least deprived areas. For example, there is a 21.2 percentage point difference between the most deprived and least deprived, in relation to achievement of literacy for P7 pupils and a 27.6 percentage point difference for S3 pupils.”
Ms Hanif told the meeting: “The report sets out the statutory duty and the scale of the challenge to reduce child poverty in West Lothian. It demonstrates the commitment to work across the Community Planning Partnership to mitigate the effects of poverty.
"There is a strong focus on interventions and approaches that will impact on reducing child poverty across West Lothian and which specifically reflect the impact of the ongoing cost of living crisis on vulnerable households."
Depute leader of the council Labour’s Kirsteen Sullivan said: “Thank you for all your work in supporting families in extreme financial difficulties.
“I think we all understand there has been a very difficult economic situation in the last few years, however it's people that are least able to weather the storm that are continually hit time and again when there's a economic crisis.
“I think there has to be recognition within the Scottish Government of the role that councils have to play in supporting people and in aiming to lift people out of poverty and give them the opportunity that everyone deserves,
“Too often we have seen cuts to budgets here, there and everywhere, without any recognition that the cuts are are directly impacting services that are there specifically to help those who need them the most.
“ I would again make a plea for a bit more of a holistic understanding as to what’s required to lift children and families out of poverty. Children are in poverty alone, their parents are too and I think there has to be a lot more direct intervention at a government level to support individuals as well as local authorities and the public and Third Sector in time of need.”
