Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan: Progress Report 2025-26

Ministerial Foreword – First Minister

Child poverty has no place in Scotland and that is why we have taken significant steps to deliver change for families. From investment in social security, affordable homes, and employment support, to driving transformation in our public services through Whole Family Wellbeing Funding, we are helping to improve children’s lives and outcomes. My Government cannot end child poverty alone. It needs a collective national effort, and we will work across Parliament and with our public sector, third sector, businesses and communities themselves to do just that.

As set out in this report, our action and focus on child poverty is making a difference – both to the lives of families, and to poverty rates in Scotland. Scottish Government policies are estimated to keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year and to halve the number of children experiencing deep poverty – while child poverty rates stand substantially below the UK average.

We have made progress, and we should be proud of that progress, but we must now redouble our efforts so that child poverty can be eradicated. We do so against the most challenging of headwinds, including conflict in Europe and the Middle East. The cost of living is still too high, with families struggling to make ends meet and afford life’s essentials, and continued austerity by the UK Government continues to push thousands into poverty.

As we enter the first year of this new Parliament, I am acutely aware of the trust which the public has placed in us to deliver the services which work for them and to act decisively on the issues which matter most. We are committed to tackling the cost of living and reducing pressures on household budgets, including through our continued investment in funded early learning and childcare, free bus travel for over 2.4 million people, including all children and young people under 22, and our package of Five Family Payments, including the Scottish Child Payment. These are actions which we know are working to support families every day, and we are determined to drive further progress.

Our approach is one of hope. We know that a Scotland where children grow up free from the constraints of poverty is possible. Our action and investment to date shows that in spite of all that has stood against us, we can deliver real and lasting change for families – change which can help realise every child’s right to grow up loved, safe, and respected. I am proud that this approach is underpinned by the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into devolved law, helping ensure that children and young people are at the heart of decisions that affect them and that they have the confidence and skills to get involved.

Together with our partners, we must focus our efforts on concrete and meaningful action which creates real impact and delivers transformational change for our people and communities. This will require all of us to be bold and brave and I am committed to creating the environment needed for this to happen.

We recognise that to eradicate child poverty, we must focus our efforts and support on those at the greatest risk of poverty. At the core of this is our approach to Whole Family Support, ensuring families get the right support when they need, where they need, for as long as they need. This report details some of the real progress we have made in realising this over the course of this year, expanding our Fairer Futures Partnerships to provide holistic and person-centred approach across even more of our communities, and building the foundations for flexible delivery of services which meets the needs of the people and families served.

By taking targeted action, supporting our public services to work effectively together to support those in greatest need, and growing our economy to support more employment opportunities and opportunities to invest, we can deliver a fairer future for families.

Eradicating child poverty and improving the lives of Scotland’s children is a duty for us all. We must now come together, with renewed focus and effort to drive lasting change and a brighter future.

By delivering our ambitious plans for Scotland, we will turn hope into action that makes a real difference to the communities we serve and to the families that need it.

John Swinney

First Minister