The Scottish Government has set out its plans to tackle child poverty.

Tackling child poverty is complex. The Government provided some detail of its plans in the Best Start, Bright Futures: Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026.

The plan has a big emphasis on fair work as a route out of poverty and improving income from work is part of that. As Best Start Bright Futures states: "Work offers a sustainable route out of poverty for many families and has a strong role to play in a balanced approach to tackling poverty."

Focus of the inquiry

The Committee looked at how the Scottish Government is working with local authorities, employers and other partners. We wanted to understand how they are supporting parents find suitable jobs or move into better paid work.

Key themes of the inquiry included:

• the Scottish Government’s ‘parental employment offer’ and the policies and delivery plans connected to it
• local approaches and the extent to which they are targeted at those most at risk of poverty
• employment needs
• childcare needs
• housing needs
• transport needs

The Committee knew that some families face greater barriers than others. The Scottish Government has identified six ‘priority groups’. The Committee wanted to get a more detailed picture of issues specific groups face and what might work to support them. The priority groups included:

• mothers aged under 25
• minority ethnic families
• lone parents
• parents whose youngest child is under one
• parents with three, or more, children
• disabled family members

The Committee appreciated that different solutions may be needed in different parts of Scotland and wanted to understand how needs and required approaches might differ in rural and urban areas.

The Committee also wanted to focus on how best to support parents to increase their income from employment. The Committee recognised that this is only part of the picture, but wanted to hear about issues around in-work poverty, why some parents are working less than they would ideally like to and how the Government policy could help turn this around.