More than a quarter of children in Dumfries and Galloway are living in poverty according to Audit Scotland’s latest report.
The independent public body said one in four children were in poverty before Covid-19 and that the situation is only going to worsen due to the cost of living crisis.
It called on the Scottish Government to work “quickly” with partners to address the issue.
Audit Scotland’s study details that 26.66 per cent of children in the region lived in relative poverty after housing costs in 2019/20.
That figure dropped to 22.89 per cent in 2020/21, but those numbers are thought to be less reliable than in other years because of the pandemic affecting sampling size and a temporary uplift to Universal Credit.
Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “Poverty affects every aspect of a child’s wellbeing and life chances and has wider implications for society.
“The Scottish Government needs to work with its partners to quickly set out the detail of how the second child poverty plan will be delivered, monitored and evaluated.
“Government policy takes time to have an impact on child poverty and so it is essential ministers also act now to set out options for reaching their long-term targets in 2030.”
Audit Scotland said Holyrood has “not yet demonstrated” a clear shift in preventing child poverty with the current figure higher than when targets were set in 2017.
The agency uses four main indicators to report on the subject with relative child poverty the most commonly used.
In Scotland between 2011-14, 21 per cent of children were affected which rose to 24 per cent in 2017-20 and further for the latest figures.
The new target for 2023/24 is for relative child poverty to fall to 18 per cent.
William Moyes, chairman of the Accounts Commission, said: “Councils have a key role to play in tackling child poverty through measures such as housing, education, childcare and employability.
“But there is limited information available across councils about what they are doing and its impact.
“Better collection and sharing of information about councils’ child poverty work will help support learning and improvement across Scotland.”
“Our second tackling child poverty delivery plan, Best Start, Bright Futures, sets out our actions to tackle child poverty still further, including our focus on long-term parental employment support, increased social security, and measures to reduce household
costs.”
