Bringing Hope, Building Futures: Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2026-2031

Increasing earned incomes

Since 2018, to help families increase their earned incomes we have:

Transformed Scotland’s employability landscape, supporting over 30,000 parents through our No One Left Behind approach since April 2020, with more than 8,400 starting work.

Taken steps to design additional childcare offers for parents, supporting almost 7,000 children and their families through funded school age and wrap-around childcare services.

Increased the total student support package from £7,625 in 2017 to £11,400 in the 2025-26 academic year, with a record 17.4% of entrants to full-time first degree courses at Scottish universities in 2024-25 coming from the 20% most deprived areas of Scotland.

Increased funded early learning and childcare from 600 hours in 2017 to 1140 hours for every three and four year old, and eligible two year olds – if families paid for the funded childcare on offer it could cost around £6,000 per year per eligible child.

Funded 9,000 new breakfast club places through our Bright Start Breakfasts fund, impacting up to 20,000 children.

Expanded free bus travel to all children and young people under the age of 22 in Scotland with over 274,000,000 free bus journeys made.

Removed peak fares on Scotrail services for good and expanded free travel on ferries for young islanders.

Taken action to ensure Scotland remains the highest real Living Wage paying nation by rates across the UK, with 88.7% of workers over 18 earning this in 2025 including 88% of women, through our focus on fair work.

Become the first country in the world to pass national Community Wealth Building legislation, promoting investment in local communities to create jobs and drive economic growth.

“Affordable childcare, access to flexible jobs and extracurricular activities for kids, would assist in breaking the poverty cycle and provide every child a fair chance to flourish.”

Bernie O, Changing Realities

Employment offers a sustainable route out of poverty for many families, so increasing earned incomes is a critical element of our approach to meeting the 2030 targets.

However, too often parents – and particularly women – are effectively locked out of the labour market or unable to increase their earnings as a result of systemic barriers. Many lone parents and parents of young children are already working as much as they can while balancing their childcare commitments. Disabled parents are more likely to be underemployed and face extra barriers to accessing employment, including inaccessible public transport and discrimination. Women often come up against gendered assumptions and structural barriers, which mean they are more likely to reduce their earnings if they have children – and these challenges are even greater for people with multiple intersecting protected characteristics, such as disabled women.

We must take action to remove these barriers and support parents into work.

We must also support today’s young people to access the labour market – including by expanding access to training and learning and tackling the inequalities of opportunity and outcomes experienced by young care leavers, young disabled people, young people from minority ethnic backgrounds, and other groups.

By supporting parents and young people to realise their economic potential, we can raise household incomes for those in or at risk of poverty through a stronger, growing Wellbeing Economy.

While employment plays a critical role in eradicating child poverty, we know that it is only part of the solution. Many families are not able to work, or work enough, because of their personal circumstances. That is why the wider measures in this plan are essential to making sure every family gets the support they need.

To drive further progress we will take action focused on:

• Providing aligned skills and employment support for parents and young people
• Expanding the availability of flexible and affordable childcare for families
• Ensuring public transport is available, affordable and accessible and connects parents and young people to work
• Driving positive change in labour market and workplace conditions

Providing aligned skills and employment support for parents and young peopleBy delivering skills and employability support that is better connected and easier to navigate, we can help parents and young people unlock their potential and access fulfilling employment.

“At some point in the future I would like to have a career instead of just having whatever wee job fits in around the children. I just don’t know how I could do that just now.”

Parent/carer, Save the Children

The ongoing review of Scotland’s post-school education and skills landscape and wider public service reform provide a solid foundation for further progress. We are also working with Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs) and employers to better connect the support available and strengthen its impact, ultimately helping more parents to enter and progress in work.

In the year ahead to maintain the progress we have made, we will:

• Invest £90 million per year in employability support throughout the Scottish Spending Review period. In 2026-27 this includes over £40 million for Parental Employability Support, and £5 million for the delivery of Specialist Employability Support ensuring parents, particularly those in the priority family groups, continue to receive tailored help to move towards, enter and progress in employment.

We will also go further to address barriers to employment by:

• Investing £9 million in the college sector through the RISE (Raising Income through Skills and Education) initiative to support families at greatest risk of poverty to access the skills and education they need to enter, sustain and progress in work. RISE will use whole-family approaches, including providing childcare and transport, to support up to 2,400 parents in 2026-27.
• Introducing a new £2 million Training Access Fund to provide access to training opportunities for people in low-paid work. Together with the RISE initiative, the Fund will strengthen our adult upskilling and reskilling offer, especially for those who need it most, including the six priority family groups.
• Investing up to £4.2 million in 2026-27 to strengthen NHS Scotland’s employability infrastructure and deliver 200 paid placements for parents at greatest risk of poverty. This will harness the scale of our NHS workforce and empower Health Boards to advance their role as anchor institutions, working with LEPs to create pathways into fair work.

Case Study - Helping parents to access flexible employment

Under ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ we committed to providing stronger, more tailored employability support for parents.

Jane* first heard about Family Finances parental employability support through weekly parent drop-ins at her son’s secondary school. At the time, she was struggling to balance unpredictable hours working bank shifts for the NHS alongside caring for her disabled son. She hoped to retrain and find flexible, home-based work, but didn’t know where to begin.

Her keyworker met her first at the school and later in the local library to make travelling easier. They explored learning options together and, after engaging with Jobs & Business Glasgow, identified an online Data Analyst course Jane could study during school hours. As the course cost over £1,000, the keyworker helped her to apply successfully to the local Training and Support Fund.

To help Jane focus on her own development, her keyworker also supported her son to build a social routine by joining local boxing and swimming clubs and finding volunteering opportunities for the school holidays.

Jane completed her course, supported by weekly motivational check-ins with her keyworker. She then received job-search support and secured a part-time home-based Business Support Worker role with an energy company, earning a salary of £10,450, with flexible leave including time for a family holiday. With additional help from Money Matters, she accessed Carer’s Allowance for her son, increasing her income by £81.58 per week.

Jane has described the support she received as ‘life changing’. She now has flexible work that fits her family’s needs perfectly, she and her son have grown in confidence, her finances have improved, and she says her home is ‘a happier place overall.’

Under ‘Bringing Hope, Building Futures’ we will continue to strengthen the support available to parents to increase their income from employment. We will maintain investment in our No One Left Behind approach and build on this with further support intended to help parents upskill and progress at work, including through the Flexible Workforce Development Fund and Training Access Fund.

*All names in the case studies in this plan have been changed for anonymity

Expanding the availability of flexible and affordable childcare for families

“We cannot currently afford any extra childcare costs; I have had to decline extra working hours because childcare would not be covered by the extra pay.”

Parent, Parenting across Scotland

Childcare is essential infrastructure which not only supports children’s development, but also enables parents to access work, training and learning in the knowledge their child is safe and well looked after.

Our early delivery of a targeted school age childcare offer has shown that many less affluent communities do not have sufficient childcare services beyond the funded 1140 hours of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). Parents consistently tell us how important it is to have services that genuinely wrap around the school day – including breakfast clubs, which provide a nutritious breakfast for children and give parents more time to work, train and learn.

Expanding our childcare offer will make a real difference for families, helping children to flourish while supporting parents to access fulfilling employment. This is particularly important for women, who are far more likely to take on childcare responsibilities and reduce their working hours to accommodate family demands.

In the year ahead to maintain the progress we have made, we will:

• Invest over £1 billion in 2026-27 in funded ELC, providing 1140 hours of funded childcare for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds – supporting parents to access work, training and learning, and giving children the best start in life.
• Continue to work with local authorities to reach more younger children through maximising uptake of our ELC offer for eligible two-year-olds, with a focus on families most at risk of poverty and on areas with some of the lowest take-up rates.
• Invest a further £13.4 million to enable staff delivering services to continue to be paid at least the real Living Wage, impacting up to 13,000 staff in ELC settings. With women making up the majority of the workforce this will help drive progress on gender equality and improve outcomes for children in these settings.
• Fund school age childcare services for over 7,000 children and families most at risk of living in poverty through our existing school age childcare programme, including through our childcare Early Adopter Communities and Extra Time partnership with the Scottish Football Association.

Building upon our existing funded childcare offer and investment in school age childcare services, we will drive further progress by:

• Delivering a national breakfast club offer for primary school aged children with provision in all primary and special schools by August 2027, backed by over £100 million of investment across 2026-29 – estimated to support over 125,000 children each year.
• Investing £15 million in providing the childcare that priority families need to enter and stay in employment. This will support families for whom childcare costs present a barrier to employment or to sustaining or increasing hours.
• Increasing wrap-around activity clubs for primary school age children through an additional £2.5 million of investment each year. Building on our Extra Time programme, this will reach even more families most at risk of living in poverty and include a range of sports and wider activities.
• Working with DWP and HMRC to improve the take-up of help with childcare costs that they offer, through awareness raising and person-centred support, and by sharing learning which will help the UK Government to minimise barriers for families where possible.

Case Study - Bright Start Breakfasts improving attendance and wellbeing

Pitreavie Primary School serves an urban community in Dunfermline where many families face transport barriers and real financial pressure. For one family, who live at the edge of the catchment area, the removal of the school bus has made it much harder to get the children to school each day.

Three of the five siblings were recording very low attendance levels. If one child struggled to get ready or cope with the morning routine, it affected the whole family, and everyone often stayed at home. Mornings were stressful and unpredictable, and this was affecting the children’s learning and wellbeing.

The school offered all three children places at the Bright Start Breakfast Club. This gave them a calm, welcoming space at the start of each day, with a healthy breakfast, a consistent routine, and support from staff who knew them well. One child, who often struggled emotionally in the mornings, had a regular check-in with a trusted adult to help them settle.

One of the children said, “I feel happier knowing I’m coming to Breakfast Club before going to class. I like playing with the toys and being with my brother at school before I go to class. I like seeing Mrs C because she is my friend.”

Since joining the club, all three children attend school more regularly and have had fewer prolonged absences from school. They arrive calmer, more focused, and ready to learn. The gentle start to the day has reduced anxiety and helped build positive daily habits.

Their mum reflected that, “Coming to breakfast in the morning makes a huge difference to our morning. A and C particularly respond well, in that it is much easier to get them motivated to get ready and out to school. A still has tricky days but knowing she has a check in and a softer start to the day with Mrs C is a real settling factor for her.”

Under ‘Bringing Hope, Building Futures’ we will build on the success of Bright Start Breakfasts by delivering a national breakfast club offer to all primary school children across Scotland.

Ensuring public transport is available, affordable and accessible and connects parents and young people to work

“Transport is another issue...if you really want to go out maybe apart from to our local park...you need to take the bus…which costs like £5.40… I only do it once in a while.” Mother, Save the Children

Scotland’s public transport system is a key enabler for growth and opportunity, helping families to get to where they live, learn, work and spend time together. But travel costs can put real pressure on household budgets, especially for low-income families and those in rural areas where services are limited. Many parents have to make several journeys each day for nursery, school and work, and they need to feel safe using public transport – especially early in the morning or late at night.

Families need transport that is safe, affordable and easy to use, which supports them to take advantage of opportunities and keeps more money in their pockets.

In the year ahead we will build upon the progress we have made, including by continuing to:

• Provide free bus travel for over 2.4 million people, including all children and young people under 22 and disabled people, backed by investment of £465.8 million, saving families over £3,000 across their child’s life and connecting almost 800,000 children and young people to new opportunities and activities, including work, training and learning.

We will also drive further progress by:

• Investing up to £19 million in 2026-27 to develop a new Transport to Employment offer for low-income parents. This will support parents with transport costs to access training and employability support whilst also increasing the availability of transport options for parents accessing work. It will also focus on addressing challenges faced by lone parents and families in areas where accessibility, availability and affordability of transport can affect pathways into work.

Driving positive change in labour market and workplace conditionsTo offer a sustainable route out of poverty, we need a labour market that provides secure jobs with fair pay and conditions for everyone – regardless of gender, race or disability.

“With some employers it can feel like a crime to have a child, when there are emergencies – there is a stigma there.”

Panellist, Get Heard Scotland

Only by tackling labour market inequalities will we be able to drive sustainable progress towards our 2030 targets through employment. This means continuing to work with employers to promote fair work through the likes of our Fair Work resource hub; addressing the higher rates of in-work poverty experienced by women and young people; supporting lone parents who are already in work to increase their hours; preventing part-time working being a barrier to earning sufficient income or achieving progression; and supporting more disabled people into jobs which make use of their skills and experience.

While key powers over employment law remain reserved to the UK Government, including in relation to the National Minimum Wage and parental leave, we are firmly committed to driving change in the labour market through our investment and action. The actions in this plan will be supported by legislative change we can take, including amending the regulations which support effective performance of the Public Sector Equality Duty to extend the scope of pay gap reporting to race and disability following consultation with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

In the year ahead we will maintain the progress we have made, including by continuing to:

• Leverage the impact of Scottish Government investment through implementation of our Fair Work First approach to public spending, which requires employers receiving public sector grant funding to pay at least the real Living Wage and to provide effective worker voice channels. Between July 2023 and March 2025, Fair Work First criteria have been applied to an estimated £6 billion worth of public sector grants.
• Provide support to Living Wage Scotland to encourage Scottish employers to accredit as real Living Wage and real living hours employers, continuing our action which has seen at least 72,000 workers in Scotland benefit from a pay rise as a result of employer accreditation since 2015.

We will also drive further progress by:

• Introducing a new £10 million Flexible Workforce Development Fund intended to incentivise employers to support upskilling and progression opportunities for parents and priority family groups in their workforce, incorporating mechanisms for recognition of prior learning to help individuals build on the skills and experience they already have – supporting business productivity and helping parents to increase their earned incomes.

Case Study - Supporting parents to build new skills and thrive at work

The new Colleges RISE initiative and the Training Access Fund (TAF) will provide targeted, person-centred support for adult learners, helping to equip parents with the skills and opportunities they need to access secure and better paid jobs.

RISE through colleges will give low-income parents and carers practical help to build new skills – offering training they can fit around family life, along with essential support with childcare, travel, and study costs. The TAF will support adult learners experiencing, or at risk of, in-work poverty to access higher-level skills training, giving them the chance to earn more and build a career that offers stability and real opportunities to grow. The new Flexible Workforce Development Fund is intended to complement RISE by incentivising businesses to offer upskilling and progression opportunities for parents and priority families within their workforce.

In practice, this could mean a low-income lone parent working part-time in retail uses the TAF to take a digital skills course they couldn’t otherwise afford. With those new skills, they are able to: move into a stable office job with standard working hours and better pay; reduce the number of childcare hours they need; and gain more opportunities to develop and progress in their career.