In the Highlands and Moray one in five children are living in poverty amid little change to the numbers since 2014 with the far north having the worst rate

One in every five children in the Highlands and Moray council areas is living in poverty according to the End Child Poverty Coalition though those numbers have declined relative to previous year.

The numbers in question also show the rates for local Westminster constituencies with Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross having the worst rate (see the table below).

The far north was followed by Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, then Aberdeenshire North and Moray East and Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire.

Child poverty numbers by Westminster constituency:

The numbers highlighted by the Scottish Parliament’s Information (SPICe) service and the Scottish data looked at relative child poverty after housing costs.

Across Scotland, statistics record relative child poverty as 22 per cent in 2023-24 while the local statistics, compiled by different methodology, show 23 per cent

SPICe stated that the local statistics cannot be directly compared to the official statistics for Scotland and the UK but are “helpful in showing patterns of poverty.”

Most Scottish local authorities have broadly similar levels of child poverty with 18 councils having child poverty rates between 20-25 per cent.

That is where Highland and Moray fall within the broader numbers: in 2023/24 Highland had 9097 children in poverty, a rate of 22.1 per cent.

Moray – which has a much smaller population – 3944 children in poverty resulting in the slightly higher rate of 23 per cent.

There have not been huge fluctuations in the child poverty rate in either the Highlands or Moray – the lowest was 22 per cent, the highest 24.1 per cent.

Child poverty statistic in the Highland and Moray council areas:

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 set a Scotland-wide target of 18 percent child poverty by 2023-24 falling and getting that down to 10 per cent in 2030-31.

According to this data, only four local authorities met that target and they were the same who were below 18 per cent nearly a decade earlier in 2014-15.

They are – Aberdeenshire (15 per cent); East Dumbartonshire (14.9 per cent); Shetland Islands (14.5 per cent); and East Renfrewshrewshire (12 per cent).

Another division is that of the 32 councils only ten have a lower child poverty rate than 10 years – and the Highlands and Moray are not among them.

The conclusion from SPICe is: “Looking at the bigger picture and considering the decade as a whole suggests there has been little sustained shift towards the target.”

The information centre explained: “At a national level, the Scottish Government has a delivery plan for tackling child poverty.

“At a local level, local authorities and health boards are required to develop local child poverty action reports.”

Both the local and national trends across a decade illustrate how long it takes for policy to impact on poverty rates. The Scottish Child Payment, as a cash payment, has a quicker impact than most, but the first full year of full payments were only made in 2023-24. (It was introduced in 2021 and extended to under 16s in November 2022).

SPICe cited a comment from the cabinet secretary for social justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville, who said: “A lot of the impact of our key policies such as the Scottish Child Payment have only taken effect from 2023-24.

“On that basis we wouldn’t expect to see a substantive reduction in long term trends at this stage.”

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