Eradicating child poverty: Evidence, actions, and impact

An evidence-informed discussion on efforts to tackle child poverty in Scotland

With 23% of all children in Scotland living in relative poverty*, eradicating child poverty is the Scottish Government’s top priority.

A range of initiatives (which you can read about in this newly published report) have been introduced to tackle the three main drivers of poverty:

· Income from employment

· Income from social security

· The cost of living.

The key question that will be addressed is how we know whether these efforts are making a difference for those most in need.

With the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026–31 on the horizon, this public event offers an opportunity to hear more about the initiatives already in place and how research and analysis have underpinned strategic decision-making.

By carefully looking at evidence rooted in people’s real-life experiences, this discussion will explore how research has captured these lived realities, and consequently shaped policies designed to eradicate child poverty.

Join to hear insights from panellists drawn from government, stakeholder organisations, and academia as they share how evidence rooted in real-life experience is informing the development and delivery of policies to tackle child poverty, and how ongoing evaluation work is key to monitoring success.

This free event is open to anyone interested in hearing more about ongoing efforts to tackle child poverty. The session will include time for a Q&A where the audience can ask their questions and take part in this crucial discussion on how to create long-lasting change.

Note: This event forms part of the Scottish Government's Evidence in Policy advocacy programme, which aims to showcase how government policy priorities are underpinned by evidence, and how Scottish Government collaborates with stakeholders to ensure that decision making benefits all the people of Scotland.

*Source:

Tackling child poverty priority families overview - gov.scot

Chair: Professor Lynn Jamieson FRSE
Co-director Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, Sociology, University of Edinburgh

Alongside her role at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Lynn Jamieson is the current President of the British Sociological Association, and Co-Director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships which brings together research, policy and practice. She is also co-investigator in the ESRC cross-institution Centre for Population Change and the National Centre for Research Methods. Her research interests include social change in personal life, sexual assault legislation, European identity, oral history.

Speaker: Professor Patricia Findlay FRSE
Distinguished Professor of Work and Employment Relations, Director, Scottish Centre for Employment Research, Department of Work, Employment and Organisation, Strathclyde Business School

Tricia is Distinguished Professor of Work and Employment Relations at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where she is Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research. She works with employers, unions and government delivering impactful research funded by UK research councils, governments, the EU and private, public and third sector organisations. Tricia has been the Co-Chair of Scotland’s Fair Work Convention since 2017, having been a Convention member and Academic Adviser since its inception. The Convention’s remit is to advise the Scottish Government on fair work, and to advocate for fair work.

Speaker: Jonathan Wright
Head of Equality and Social Justice Analysis, Scottish Government

Jonathan has been Head of Equality and Social Justice Analysis at the Scottish Government since April 2022. He leads a team of 24 social researchers, statisticians and economists supporting the Equality, Human Rights and Tackling Child Poverty policy areas. Notable areas of work include the Equality Evidence Strategy, evidence and statistics on poverty and inequality, and delivery of the Scottish Household Survey, Scotland’s largest regular population survey. Prior to this role, Jonathan led the teams delivering evaluation and research successively in the public health, schools and social security policy areas. He first joined the then Scottish Executive as an economist in 1999 and has been a member of the Government Social Research profession since 2005.

Speaker: Hanna McCulloch
Programme Manager – Child Poverty and SAVVI, Improvement Service

Speaker: Satwat Rehman
Chief Executive, One Parent Families Scotland

Important points to note

This event is suitable for age 16+

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