Current status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 December 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the social and emotional impact of poverty on children and young people.
The Scottish Government's approach to child poverty is articulated in the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland 2014-17, which contains a detailed measurement framework addressing the wide range of drivers of poverty and the impacts poverty has on the lives of children and their families. The latest annual report on the strategy was published on 9 October 2015 and is available here: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/10/9574.
The 'Prospects' section of the annual report sets out progress against various indicators which measure the social and emotional impact of poverty on children and young people, such as 'Children from low income households have improving levels of physical and mental health' and 'Children from low income households experience social inclusion and display social competence'. The Scottish Government has a variety of policies in place to drive forward progress in these areas. For example, we have increased the amount of funded early learning and childcare and invested in the Early Years Collaborative and Change Fund to transform early years services and embed prevention, and in 2015 the First Minister launched the Scottish Attainment Challenge, including the £100 million Scottish Attainment Fund. We have also placed health and wellbeing at the heart of the Curriculum for Excellence, reflecting its importance. Alongside numeracy and literacy, it is now one of the three core areas that are the responsibility of all staff in the school.