The poverty crisis in Scotland is overwhelming, with over half a million scots living in extreme poverty. Many factors contribute to this harrowing figure. The Scottish Government is putting measures in place to try and combat the huge amount of people in Scotland that live in poverty.

Defining Scottish Poverty

Scottish poverty can be described many ways but the most efficient and commonly used way to define poverty is evaluating income, for example, if you live in a household that only makes 60% of the average household income then you fall under the poverty line. This makes you fall under the poverty line as you will not have the correct funds to ensure you have the necessities to meet basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing.

The Causes of Scottish Poverty

There are many different factors that cause poverty in Scotland, one of the main reasons being unemployment. There are over 171,000 people in Scotland unemployed, with a huge majority claiming job seekers allowance or other forms of benefits.

The benefits system is always being reviewed and changed, one of the newest changes is the benefits cap, which caps the overall benefit amount one household can receive. However, this cap means that people already struggling will not be able to afford the necessities they need for themselves or their families.

Another factor that can contribute to poverty is education, if people are less educated they are going to find it difficult to find a well-paying job, that will provide them with all their basic necessities. In this technology basis society, employers are going to be looking for skills and good qualification for a majority of well-paying jobs.  Many jobs are also low paying and do not provide enough income to support a family or provide the basis necessities.

The Poverty Cycle

People that are born into poverty and grow up living in poverty are, in most cases, stuck in a poverty cycle. These people are stuck in poverty and find it extremely difficult to break the cycle. Children born into poverty don’t know any different way of life, so become trapped in poverty, they also don’t have adequate resources, such as education or finance, to break the cycle.

Tackling The Problem

The Scottish government have put measures in place to try and fix the vast poverty problem in Scotland. Most of the measures that the government have in place to help the poverty situation aim at tackling the ‘root of the problem’ with children. They Scottish government believe that is they tackle the child poverty is Scotland, they can help the children thrive in school, breaking out of the poverty cycle they are stuck in.

One of the ways they are going to help children succeed and move out of poverty is by providing free school meals for children, to ensure they are given enough nutrients and fuel to get through their day at school. As well as this, the government have put in place different systems to help the people in poverty in Scotland.