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An Introduction to

The State of Poverty

Funded by The Robertson Trust &

In partnership with the Poverty Alliance

3^rd July 2025

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The Team @ University of Glasgow�Prof. Nicola McEwen �Prof. Kezia Dugdale �Dr Claire MacRae�Dr Thomas Rochow�

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What we will cover today: ��

Introduction to the State of Poverty Project;
A coordinated approach to tackling poverty; and
Towards a person-centred policy-making system: A case study of Social Security in Scotland.
Q and A

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An Introduction to �The State of Poverty project

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Why?

Over 1 in 5 Scots and nearly 25% of children live in poverty
Despite decades of evidence and advocacy, system barriers rooted in institutional siloes remain
Fragmented budget decisions risk creating contradictory outcomes.

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Ambition is not the problem

22% of children lived in households in relative poverty. The interim target was set at <18%.
17% of children lived in households in absolute poverty. The interim target was set at <14%
9% of children lived in households in combined low income and material deprivation. The interim target was set at <8%.
23% of children lived in households in persistent poverty. The interim target was set at <8%.

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What’s the plan?

Context: Poverty as Multi-level Policy Challenge.

Citizen Centred solutions – Poverty Policy Labs.

Composites: Impact of Siloed Decision Making.

Citizen at the Centre

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A coordinated approach to tackling poverty?

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What’s the challenge?

“No Government alone can tackle and reduce child poverty,

it takes all of us, across Scotland, working together”

Scottish Government, Best Start, Bright Futures, 2022

Poverty as a Multi-level, Multi-

Sector, ‘Grand’ Policy Challenge

spans the competences and

responsibilities of multiple

departments and governments.

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"The (UK Child Poverty) Strategy will be UK-wide, drawing on devolved and reserved levers and working closely with Devolved Governments, recognising the progress that has been made on their poverty strategies & policies, and with mayors and other leaders of local government."

UK Government, Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy, 18 June 2025

Poverty as a Shared Priority

" Eradicating child poverty is my driving mission and the top priority of the government I lead... It will take all of us across the public sector, business, the third sector and communities themselves, to realise the change needed. My government is committed to working with partners across Scotland to identify solutions, and to develop a robust plan for further driving down poverty over the life of the next Parliament. This will, of course, include the implications of policies from the UK Government, and I hope that the delayed Child Poverty Strategy will deliver the change so sorely needed at a UK level.

FM Foreword, Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan:

progress report 2024-25

"We call for the Scottish Government to take action to ensure that future national policy allows for partnership approaches, to provide local authorities with holistic and sustainable funding to tackle child poverty, and for national policy to be developed holistically"

COSLA, From Targets to Action, Empowering Local Government to Tackle Child Poverty

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Are governments coordinated & coordinating effectively?

INSERT REFERENCES TOTHEORY/CADEMIC WORK ON COLLABORATION JOINED UP GOVERNMENT – TALK TO THE KEY BENEFITS OF THIS APPROACH.

Recognition of System-wide context in Delivery Plan and some approaches, e.g. whole family approach
"Scottish and Local Government will work together to tackle poverty, particularly child poverty, in recognition of the joint national mission to tackle child poverty"
Four Nations Ministerial Group on Child Poverty "meets regularly"

Progress report provides overview of lots of interventions – mostly in budgets but also innovative schemes that implicitly recognise and try to prevent drivers of poverty. System-wide effects on individuals and families are also recognised, e.g. whole family wellbeing programme. But responsibility still seems to fall to one Cabinet Secretary in one dept. And emphasis of policy response (and budget) still on responding to failure demand through targeted social security – a policy lever under control of . Difficult to maintain, e.g. SFC - net 'cost' of devolved social security forecast to be over £1.6bn by end of decade. Delivery Plan reads like a collection of interventions across government departments – one of recurring themes from interviews concerns coordination, overcoming silos, and accountability for delivery

Quote from Verity House Agreement. Despite challenges, there are good examples, e.g. Scottish-local gov – good example of Fairer Futures Partnerships.

Four nations group - ?????

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Toward a person-centred policy-making system

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A Case Study: Social Security

There are multiple overlapping social security systems across the UK

Social Security is a prime example of this complex and often uncoordinated approach between governments

Policy divergence has been increasing between Scot Gov and UK Gov

Tensions between the decision-makers can increase poverty risks among beneficiaries

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Regional Difference in Social Security

Not only are the eligibility, universality, and conditionality of some social security benefits geographically contingent across the UK (Meers et al. 2024), but the styles of delivery may also differ; for example, “the Scottish Government appears more willing than the UK Government to trust local authorities to use more traditional forms of service delivery” (Cairney, 2016: 339)

The Scottish block grant required to fund payment of the ADP is calculated on the basis of the number qualifying for PIP in England & Wales

Hence, not only does the complexity lie in the policy divergence but also in the fiscal rules and UK funding framework (Mitchell et al. 2025)

Despite this, breaking down siloes remains difficult to achieve because of common barriers to horizontal coordination; ministers and civil servants have their own responsibilities, targets, and strategies with limited time to engage with actors outside their departments (Cairney, 2016). Departmentalism remains rife within the Scottish Government

Therefore, if one million fewer disabled people were to qualify for the PIP daily living component in the rest of Great Britain, then this will create a funding shortfall in Scotland estimated as between £400 and £600 million (Scott, 2025)

We want to understand how all this chaos and politics shapes the lived experiences of people in Scotland living in poverty

Initial analysis indicates there could be a twofold blow, where the Scottish Government receives less funding for health-related benefits and becomes responsible for supporting a greater number of disabled people

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Q & A��…. And thank you!