By Dan Yaxley, Good Food Nation Ambassador (@danyaxley) The food system in Scotland is broken. Nearly 1 in 10 Scots experience food insecurity – a figure which rises to 21% for single parents. Food bank use is on the rise, with more than 200 providers handing out increasing numbers of emergency food packages in 2018, […]

By Ruth Boyle, Policy and Parliamentary Officer at Close the Gap One of the key messages of this year’s Challenge Poverty Week is that poverty affects us all. At Close the Gap, we know that it affects women. We know this because the evidence shows that poverty in Scotland is gendered. By this we mean that […]

By Young Scot Young Scot is working on a three-year National Strategic Partnership with the Scottish Government to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap while minimising stigma felt by young people. Young Scot are supporting three initial pilot local authorities (Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire and Highland) to offer a different approach to reduce the attainment gap, challenge […]

By Helen Melone, Research, Information & Project Officer for Energy Action Scotland Fuel poverty is being unable to heat your home. Fuel poverty means having to make that choice between heating and eating. Fuel poverty means cold, damp homes. Fuel poverty is a wider issue however than not being able to pay your heating bills. It […]

By Ghzala Khan and Nadeem Hanif, West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC)   ‘Minority ethnic communities also experience the highest rates of poverty in Scotland. The potential routes out of poverty for minority ethnic families and individuals are reduced by barriers, many of which are connected to structural and direct forms of racism.’ – Scottish […]

By Calum Carson, Doctoral researcher at Leeds University Business School As Challenge Poverty Week continues, it’s time to talk about an aspect of combating poverty in Scotland that can have immediate, important effects: by the boosting of incomes to levels which enable workers to afford a decent standard of living and participate fully in society, through […]

By Jessica Husbands, Campaigns & Policy Co-ordinator at Shelter Scotland This week is Challenge Poverty Week, when organisations across Scotland speak up against poverty and how it can be tackled. When I tell people that I work for Shelter Scotland, poverty isn’t the first thing they think of. But poverty cuts across almost all areas of our […]

Earlier this year the Scottish Government published Every Child, Every Chance: The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018 – 2022. Among a host of commitments was one to introduce a new income supplement for low-income families; a welcome step that recognised the need to use the new social security powers that Scotland has to reduce […]

How do we achieve adequate minimum incomes for all? This is a question that is at the heart of the the European Minimum Income Network (EMIN) project. All across Europe campaigners, researchers and policy makers are debating what combination of policies is needed to ensure that minimum income schemes actually lift people out of poverty. […]

After almost four years, this is my last week working for the Poverty Alliance.  I leave knowing much more than when I arrived, particularly about the steps that we need to take to build a better Scotland.  Since I joined the Alliance in 2014, poverty in Scotland and the UK has continued to rise but […]

We were pleased to be joined by Laoise Rogers for Challenge Poverty Week 2017.  Here she writes about the strength of the communities she visited.   Having enjoyed my work experience so much this summer, I was delighted to have the opportunity to be involved with Challenge Poverty Week. On day 3, I was fortunate to […]

By Ruth Boyle, Policy and Parliamentary Officer at Close the Gap One of the key messages of this year’s Challenge Poverty Week is that poverty affects us all. At Close the Gap, we know that it affects women. We know this because the evidence shows that poverty in Scotland is gendered. By this we mean that […]

By Helen Melone, Research, Information & Project Officer for Energy Action Scotland Fuel poverty is being unable to heat your home. Fuel poverty means having to make that choice between heating and eating. Fuel poverty means cold, damp homes. Fuel poverty is a wider issue however than not being able to pay your heating bills. It […]

By Ghzala Khan and Nadeem Hanif, West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC)   ‘Minority ethnic communities also experience the highest rates of poverty in Scotland. The potential routes out of poverty for minority ethnic families and individuals are reduced by barriers, many of which are connected to structural and direct forms of racism.’ – Scottish […]

By Calum Carson, Doctoral researcher at Leeds University Business School As Challenge Poverty Week continues, it’s time to talk about an aspect of combating poverty in Scotland that can have immediate, important effects: by the boosting of incomes to levels which enable workers to afford a decent standard of living and participate fully in society, through […]

By Jessica Husbands, Campaigns & Policy Co-ordinator at Shelter Scotland This week is Challenge Poverty Week, when organisations across Scotland speak up against poverty and how it can be tackled. When I tell people that I work for Shelter Scotland, poverty isn’t the first thing they think of. But poverty cuts across almost all areas of our […]

Earlier this year the Scottish Government published Every Child, Every Chance: The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018 – 2022. Among a host of commitments was one to introduce a new income supplement for low-income families; a welcome step that recognised the need to use the new social security powers that Scotland has to reduce […]

How do we achieve adequate minimum incomes for all? This is a question that is at the heart of the the European Minimum Income Network (EMIN) project. All across Europe campaigners, researchers and policy makers are debating what combination of policies is needed to ensure that minimum income schemes actually lift people out of poverty. […]

After almost four years, this is my last week working for the Poverty Alliance.  I leave knowing much more than when I arrived, particularly about the steps that we need to take to build a better Scotland.  Since I joined the Alliance in 2014, poverty in Scotland and the UK has continued to rise but […]

We were pleased to be joined by Laoise Rogers for Challenge Poverty Week 2017.  Here she writes about the strength of the communities she visited.   Having enjoyed my work experience so much this summer, I was delighted to have the opportunity to be involved with Challenge Poverty Week. On day 3, I was fortunate to […]