Publication - Strategy/plan
Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022-2026 - annex 3: child poverty measurement framework – updated
This annex to Best Start, Bright Futures: the second tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022 to 2026 provides an update on the measurement framework to monitor whether and how the drivers of poverty change over time.
Updated Measurement Framework
The updated measurement framework is set out in the table below and will be used, from the first progress report of the new delivery plan in 2023, to monitor how and whether the drivers of poverty are changing over time.
| Driver | Indicator | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Income from Employment | ||
| Hourly pay | Average hourly earnings of low income households* with children where at least one adult is in employment | Family Resources Survey (FRS) |
| Hours worked per household | Percentage of children living in households where no adult is in paid employment | Annual Population Survey (APS) |
| Average (median) number of hours of paid employment per working-age (16-64) adult, in low income households* with children where at least one adult is in employment | FRS | |
| Labour market | Percentage of parents who are underemployed – parents (16-64) who are in work but would prefer to work more hours in their current job (at the same rate of pay), in an additional job or in a new job with longer hours to replace their current job | APS |
| Skills under-utilisation – Percentage of employed working-age (16-64) parents with degrees who are in low and medium skilled occupations | APS | |
| New (from 2023) – Non-standard work contracts – Percentage of parents in employment, who have a non-permanent contract** | APS | |
| Skills and qualifications | Percentage of all parents with no or low qualifications | APS |
| Costs of Living | ||
| Availability of affordable and accessible transport and childcare | Percentage of day-care children services that offer a service during school holidays | Care Inspectorate Data |
| Percentage of day-care or children services that are open before, during and after school hours | ||
| Childcare affordability – Percentage of all households with a child aged between 0 and 11 that say they find it difficult or very difficult to afford their household's childcare costs | Scottish Household Survey (SHS) | |
| New (from 2023) – Childcare costs – Annual household spend on childcare as a percentage of annual income. | SHS | |
| New (from 2023) – Transport costs – Percentage of income spent on transport costs by low income households* with children | SHS | |
| New (from 2023) – Transport affordability – Percentage of people, from low income families with children, reporting that they find it fairly, or very, difficult to afford their individual transport costs | SHS | |
| Housing costs | Percentage of income spent on housing by low income households* with children | FRS |
| Other costs of living | New (from 2023) – Fuel poverty – percentage of households with children in fuel poverty or extreme fuel poverty | Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) |
| Food affordability – percentage of income spent on food and non-alcoholic drinks by low income households with children | Living Costs and Food Survey | |
| New (from 2023) – Food security – percentage of children in low income households with low or very low food security | FRS | |
| Debt | Unmanageable debt – Percentage of all households with children that are in unmanageable debt*** | Wealth and Assets Survey |
| Enablers | Access to affordable credit – percentage of households with children that have used high cost credit in the past 12 months | SHS |
| Percentage of low income households with children that have no savings | ||
| Percentage of low income households* with children that have internet access | ||
| Income from Social Security and Benefits in Kind | ||
| Reach of benefits | New (from 2023) – proportion of children who are eligible for Universal Credit | FRS, with microsimulation using UKMOD |
| Level of benefits | New (from 2023) – Real terms value (£/pw) of Universal Credit for out-of-work couple with two children / out-of-work lone parent with two children, both in Stirling receiving full Local Housing Allowance | DWP, ONS |
| New (from 2023) – Real terms value (£/pw) of Universal Credit for couple with one working full time at minimum wage and one not in paid employment/lone parent with two children working full time at minimum wage, both in Stirling receiving full Local Housing Allowance | DWP, ONS | |
| New from 2023 – Real terms value of Scottish Child Payment (SCP) | SG, ONS | |
| Take-up | New from 2023 – Take up of Scottish Child Payment | SG Benefit Take-up Strategy, SG data |
* low income households are defined as those within the lowest 30% of household incomes
** non-permanent contracts are fixed term or temporary jobs, work without contract, or other working arrangements
***unmanageable debt is defined as having at least one of the following three problems:
- household debt repayments represent at least 25% of net monthly income and at least one adult in the household reports falling behind with bills or credit commitments
- at least one adult in the household is currently in two or more consecutive months arrears on bills or credit commitments and at least one adult in the household reports falling behind with bills or credit commitments
- household debt represents at least 20% of net annual income and at least one adult considers their debt a heavy burden
Contact
Email: TCPU@gov.scot
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback