Bringing Hope, Building Futures: Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2026-2031 – annex 2: Analysis of consultation and engagement

2. Proposed strategic themes

The third Tackling Child Poverty Plan will build upon evidence and learning collected over the previous seven years from work with families, children and young people, and on learning from Every Child, Every Chance and Best Start, Bright Futures. For this report, the Scottish Government identified four strategic themes, which were explored in the call for evidence and engagement events. The proposed themes were refined with input from the External Reference Group. The four themes, which are referred to throughout this report, are:

• Theme 1: Increasing earned incomes by supporting and providing opportunities for parents and carers, to enter, sustain and progress in work. This includes through the likes of employability support and the provision of essential infrastructure such as childcare and transport.
• Theme 2: Reducing the costs of living and maximising incomes from social security to allow families to live dignified lives and meet their basic needs. This includes through the likes of social security, affordable homes, and advice services.
• Theme 3: Delivering holistic and whole family support to improve outcomes and wellbeing and enable families to better engage with other services that directly increase their incomes. This includes through action focused on preventing families falling into poverty and wider community-based support.
• Theme 4: Supporting children and young people to reach their full potential and to break the cycle of poverty in the longer term. This includes through the likes of early years support, education, and post-school transitions.

This chapter presents the analysis of responses to Question 1 and Question 2 in the call for evidence and related discussion from engagement events, which asked respondents whether these are the right themes to focus on and whether there were any other strategic themes to consider for this new plan. More detail on each of the themes is then provided in Chapters 3 to 6.

Question 1. Do you think these are the right themes to focus on?

Question 2. Are there other key strategic themes we should consider?

Views on the four strategic themes

Agreement with the themes

Almost all respondents answered Question 1. Of those, the vast majority supported the proposed strategic themes, expressing the view that they were the correct themes to focus on when considering how to reduce child poverty. Respondents also highlighted specific aspects of the themes they felt were beneficial or actions they felt would be effective. Others provided caveats or suggestions alongside their agreement, such as recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the plan, or considerations for specific groups. To avoid repetition, these suggestions and recommendations are described in greater detail at the most relevant place in this report.

In March 2025, the Scottish Government included a small number of questions on an online ‘omnibus’ survey. The survey sample consisted of 1,000 adults aged 18+ in Scotland, who were demographically and geographically representative of the population.

The vast majority of respondents (85%) believe that there is either some (39%) or a lot of (46%) child poverty in Scotland today.

Respondents were asked “Which of the following approaches do you think are most important for tackling child poverty in Scotland?” and were asked to select up to three approaches from a list provided in the survey.

Just over half (51%) indicated that ‘Ensuring parents can access and sustain work by having affordable, good quality childcare available’ is important. Other approaches identified as important included ‘Improving school education to ensure that all children have a better chance of avoiding poverty when they become adults’ (43%), and ‘Ensuring that work-related training and sufficiently well-paid work is available to the parents of children living in poverty’ (39%).

These approaches align with Theme 1 (Increased earned income) and Theme 4 (Supporting Children and Young People).

Given the high level of backing for the proposed themes, the analysis below highlights any concerns related to the presentation of the themes and any disagreement with the proposed themes.

Suggested changes to the existing themes

Some respondents felt that Theme 2 (Cost of living and income maximisation) was too broad and should be broken into two separate themes. They felt that the effects of the increase in the cost of living were a wider social issue that impacted people living in poverty as well as other groups in the population. They felt it was a distinct issue from income maximisation through social security payments and benefits. These respondents noted that combining the two topics into one theme risked losing the details of the drivers of child poverty, the actions needed to tackle them and the impacts of improvements.

Some respondents suggest that Theme 4 (Support for children and young people) should place greater emphasis on the early years, which they noted should start with pregnancy and include teams across midwifery, health visitors, early years education programmes, and practitioners. Mixed views were expressed about whether this should be part of Theme 4 or a separate theme.

Other themes and considerations

Potential other themes

Throughout the engagement, some respondents highlighted other factors they felt should receive greater recognition in the next plan. In most cases, however, these respondents did not explicitly indicate whether they felt these factors should be included in one of the four strategic themes, or whether they should be the basis of a distinct new theme.

Suggestions included:

• Physical and mental health: Calls for a more explicit reference to physical and mental health were made by some respondents. They felt that the themes, as proposed, only reference ‘wellbeing’, which some felt overlooked the trauma and psychological impacts of poverty, particularly on those with adverse childhood experiences. The themes of physical and mental health are described in greater detail in Chapter 5.
• A whole systems approach: A few respondents referred to a whole systems approach as a cross-cutting theme that they thought should be included. It was felt that collaborative sharing of information, data and resources was necessary to tackle child poverty. This suggestion is explored further in Chapter 6.
• Housing affordability and quality: A small number of respondents felt that this issue should be mentioned explicitly in relation to the cost of living, although not necessarily independently of Theme 2 (Cost of living and income maximisation). Housing issues are explored in Chapter 4.
• Digital access and availability: This was raised by a few respondents as a barrier for people experiencing poverty. Respondents felt that access to technology and digital skills training was necessary for education, job and apprenticeship opportunities, as well as accessing support and services. A small number of respondents noted that this was felt more acutely in rural and remote areas, where more jobs and education were undertaken remotely, due to more limited transport options, but the costs of internet access were higher.
• Taxation: A few respondents and attendees at engagement events advocated for fairer taxation policies and a more robust tax system. Respondents suggested that the Scottish Government should ensure that devolved taxes are as progressive as possible and increase public sector funding to support more programmes that target child poverty.

The interrelated nature of the causes of child poverty and ways to tackle it

While agreement with the four strategic themes was high, respondents emphasised the interrelated nature of the causes of, and potential solutions to, child poverty.

Some respondents highlighted the connection between issues such as ensuring fair work, access to childcare, transport, affordable housing, and healthcare. For example, it was noted that assistance with transportation will not necessarily, on its own, help parents into employment if they lack access to appropriate childcare. These respondents emphasised that any plan to tackle child poverty must align with broader policy and planning across multiple areas, as they believed addressing one issue without addressing others would be unlikely to have a lasting impact on reducing child poverty. Similarly, it was noted that the six priority family groups, identified by the Scottish Government as being at greatest risk of poverty, were likely to face multiple disadvantages and would be unlikely to benefit from isolated solutions.

A frequently suggested solution to this issue was support for collaborative working and holistic service and support provision in accessible settings, such as GP practices or maternity services, or in community locations, such as food banks and schools. These approaches are explored more in Chapter 7.

Systemic change needed

A few respondents believed that there needed to be greater acknowledgement of the broader structural issues and social factors that they felt perpetuate inequality and child poverty. These respondents expressed the view that it is essential to move beyond financial levers and create broader social change. This was raised by one respondent as a particular criticism of Theme 3 (Holistic and whole family support), as they felt that the theme was overly focused on the short-term, rather than recognising the disadvantages that lead to generational poverty. They suggested focusing on both wider financial barriers and wellbeing factors, as well as relational approaches, over time.

Considered actions

A few respondents suggested the themes could be prioritised in order of their perceived effectiveness in reducing poverty and how immediately the benefits of those actions would be felt by families needing assistance. A small number of respondents thought it was important to focus on outcomes in the delivery plan, setting goals and benchmarks. Others felt that it was important to balance the emphasis on the different themes, based on those that have been proven to be impactful in reducing child poverty in the past. One organisation questioned whether the themes were ranked by priority.