Tackling child poverty skills package: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal (Please delete as necessary):

• Decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

Tackling Child Poverty Skills Package (Colleges RISE, Training Access Fund, new Flexible Workforce Development Fund)

Background

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 (“the Act”)^[1] sets in statute four income-based child poverty targets to be met in 2030. The final delivery plan under the Act – Bringing Hope, Building Futures: Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2026-2031^[2] – covers the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031 and focuses on four key themes: increasing earned incomes; reducing the costs of living; maximising incomes from social security; and supporting children and families to thrive.

The skills package covered by this Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) is aimed at increasing earned incomes by targeting upskilling opportunities towards particular cohorts.

Proposals

As part of the actions developed to help families increase their income, we will deliver a £22 million skills package that will support people to access the skills and education they need to enter, sustain and progress in work.

This skills package, which will be delivered by the college sector, consists of:

• The £10 million Colleges RISE (Raising Income through Skills and Education) programme
• The £2 million Training Access Fund (TAF) and
• The new £10 million Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF)

Purpose

Colleges RISE will include delivery of new and expanded upskilling/retraining opportunities to low-income parents and carers, alongside essential support with childcare and travel to ensure learners are able to participate and complete their courses.

TAF will help people experiencing, or at risk of, in-work poverty, including the six priority family groups, access higher-level skills training, increasing their earning potential and strengthening their long-term career prospects.

The new FWDF will aim to incentivise businesses in Scotland to provide upskilling and progression opportunities for parents, carers and young people in low-paid roles within their workforce, while promoting Fair Work practices and helping employers address skill needs and increase productivity.

The above skills interventions are a coherent package intended to directly target and impact people experiencing, or at risk of, poverty in Scotland, both in and out of work – parents, carers, care experienced young people, as well as people with other and intersecting protected characteristics, and contribute to lifting families out of poverty, thus having a positive impact on children living in, or at risk of, poverty.

This is a combined CRWIA completed for the skills initiatives package (Colleges RISE, TAF and new FWDF) that was developed as part of the final delivery plan, as all three interventions have the same fundamental purpose: to provide flexible training opportunities to support employment, enhance career prospects and increase earned income, targeting similar cohorts of people and delivered by the college sector.

List of Acronyms

• ALSA: Advanced Learning Skills and Analysis
• CRWIA: Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment
• FWDF: Flexible Workforce Development Fund
• OCEA: Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
• RISE: Raising Income through Skills and Education
• TAF: Training Access Fund

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

The evidence and assessment presented in this CRWIA demonstrate that the skills package (as described above) is expected to have a positive impact (both direct and indirect) by furthering children’s rights and wellbeing, and promoting the better realisation of one or more rights contained within the UNCRC requirements, particularly in relation to:

Direct Impact

• Article 18: parental responsibilities and state’s assistance

Indirect Impact

• Article 2: non-discrimination
• Article 3: best interests of the child to be a primary consideration
• Article 4: implementation of the convention
• Article 6: life, survival, and development
• Article 23: Children with a disability
• Article 27: right to adequate standard of living
• Article 28: Right to education
• Article 29: Goals of education

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

This CRWIA builds on the evidence and stakeholder feedback included in the CRWIA that has been carried out and published as part of the publication of the final child poverty delivery plan for 2026-31. ^[3]

Evidence from:

Existing research/reports/policy expertise

National child poverty data

The Scottish Government holds key statistical data on child poverty. High level data and analysis can be found at child poverty summary^[4] and child poverty analysis^[5].

This data shows that child poverty rates in Scotland have remained broadly stable over the last decade. It is estimated that 23% of children (240,000 children each year) were living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2021-24. Before housing costs, it is estimated that 22% of children (220,000 children each year) were in relative poverty.

Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland data^[6] shows that children in priority groups ^[7] have a higher risk of being in relative and absolute poverty.

While the risk of being in poverty is much lower for children where someone in the household is in paid work compared to those in workless households, not all work pays enough to ensure the household income is above the poverty line. Three quarters of children in relative poverty live in a household with someone in paid work.

Children are more likely to be in poverty across all measures compared to the overall population. This is partly because parents/guardians, in general, tend to earn less when their children are young compared with adults in households without children. Secondly, larger households have their incomes reduced to a greater degree during the income equivalisation process to take account of the fact that the household income must go further than for a smaller household.

Child poverty data and analysis is also available from independent sources, including:

• The End Child Poverty Coalition produced a report in June 2025 alongside Loughborough University with estimates of child poverty after housing costs in parliamentary constituencies and local authorities^[8]
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s annual report regarding poverty in Scotland includes a focus on poverty rates over time and progress towards the targets^[9]
• Public Health Scotland hosts a child poverty prevention dashboard, with a range of quantitative indicators to help local areas tell the story about local child poverty and its drivers^[10]

Priority families

Poverty affects a wide range of families with a variety of protected characteristics. However, around 90% of all children in poverty in Scotland live within the six priority family types ⁷ – lone parent families, minority ethnic families, families with a disabled member, families with a mother aged under 25, families with a child under one and larger families (3+ children).⁷

Evidence^[11] continues to suggest that the priority groups identified experience poverty at a higher rate than the rest of the population. It is important to note there is significant intersectionality within these groups and, whilst we will focus our efforts on those most at risk of experiencing child poverty, we will use the priority family types as lenses through which we address the key barriers experienced by different groups. For example, among children in relative poverty:

• 49% of children in lone parent families also have a disabled family member
• 50% of children in a family with a younger mother are also in a lone parent household
• 49% of children in families with three or more children are also in a family in which someone is disabled

Skills, Education and Training

Results from a literature review that was carried out by the Scottish Government^[12] found limited evidence on the role of skills and training in alleviating poverty and child poverty, including any Scottish specific evidence. Where literature was found, this tends to focus on in-work poverty.

The review cited a small-scale qualitative research study, in which employers identified training and in-work progression as a means of providing a route to better jobs for employees and a route out of poverty.

Through secondary data analysis of two large-scale British longitudinal datasets (the British Household Panel Survey / Understanding Society and Longitudinal Education Outcomes) and the Social Mobility Commission (2020) it is suggested that one of the key factors that had a significant influence on pay progression was the total days of training.

The literature review found only limited evidence on skills and child poverty. One example is provided by the Learning and Work Institute (2016) who cite evidence which shows the intergenerational importance of skills and suggests that if parents participate in learning and improve their skills, this can help their children to achieve better outcomes. In Scottish-specific qualitative research on in-work progression and training, overcoming childcare barriers is highlighted as one way to help alleviate child poverty.

However, the review also found that:

• Literature on the benefits of lifelong learning was plentiful, with the evidence showing that there are economic and social benefits of lifelong learning, as well as wellbeing benefits for the individual
• The economic benefits of lifelong learning are cited as including higher earnings and positive labour market outcomes, while wellbeing and social benefits include increased self-confidence and increased social capital

A Barnardo's (2022) report^[13] noted that low qualifications are a key driver of low pay, reinforcing poverty. Evidence on labour market outcomes shows the long shadow child poverty can cast: children born into the poorest third of families have earnings at age 40 that are 50% below those born into the richest third. Young people who have grown up in low-income households are more likely than their more affluent peers to experience unemployment, low pay or unskilled work in their adult lives – and this gap persists even when controlling for educational outcomes and other background characteristics.

The 2022 evaluation of the Individual Training Account scheme, which was open to individuals who were unemployed or in low paid employment, offers insights on the benefits of training and upskilling. ^[14]

Relevant evaluation findings included:

• There was evidence that ITAs helped people to find new and better jobs
• It appeared that ITAs helped people in work to both find new jobs but also find jobs where they could apply their skills and experience
• Two in five people who were working full-time reported that their ITA had helped them find a better paying job
• Women were more likely to be in work when they booked a course
• Most evaluation participants said that they would not have undertaken training without the ITA funding

Barriers

The OECD Skills Outlook 2025 argues that education systems are formally merit‑based, but selection points and pathways reproduce advantage and that adult learning participation is highly unequal, with disadvantaged adults least likely to access training that leads to progression.^[15]

The 2023 Get Heard Scotland report highlighted that childcare provision is often the key determinant as to whether women have a job, the hours they work, or whether they can access upskilling and reskilling support. Improving access to affordable and flexible childcare is key to improving women’s ability to undertake training.^[16]

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s annual report also notes that (anecdotally) the skills and qualifications of minority ethnic people being dismissed rather than built upon.^[17]

For some groups, including ethnic minorities and disabled people, structural labour market barriers such as discrimination, occupational segregation, and unequal access to progression opportunities, may mean that skills and qualifications do not automatically translate into improved earnings or reductions in poverty.

Minority ethnic groups are more likely to be underemployed in relation to their level of qualification or over-qualified for their role. This persists even when skills and qualifications are improved. The 2026 report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation titled Ethnicity, poverty, and in-work inequalities in the UK^[18] found that although ethnic minority young people have achieved significant educational progress that should, in theory, reduce poverty, they are more likely to experience a lack of economic return for education qualifications and improvement of skills.

Finally, stakeholder consultation carried out as part of the new delivery plan reinforced much of this evidence, with respondents highlighting gendered issues such as: fair pay for women; under-valuation of work traditionally carried out by women (i.e. cleaning, care and retail); the need for policy alignment, especially with transport and flexible childcare, to facilitate women’s access to employment and employability support; and women having limited income from employment due to unpaid caring responsibilities.^[19]