The Herald

Scotland’s Forgotten Children

2025

In May, The Herald launched a powerful campaign in partnership with 23 of Scotland’s leading children’s and anti-poverty charities, calling on the Scottish Government to take decisive action to tackle child poverty. At the heart of the campaign is a clear and urgent demand: raise the Scottish Child Payment from £27.15 to £40 per week.

The campaign was sparked by a stark reality. Despite Scotland’s targets to eradicate child poverty, The Herald found efforts were falling short. In 2023–24, 22 per cent of children were living in relative poverty, well above the interim target of 18 per cent. Even more alarming, the Herald found 80,000 children were now living in what has been described as “very deep poverty”, facing the harshest consequences of deprivation.

The Herald also found that another 17 per cent of children live in absolute poverty, where current income was less than 60 per cent of the UK median in 2010 and that nine per cent of children were considered to live in material deprivation – households without basic goods and services.

In a bold editorial move, the paper published an open letter as its front page to First Minister John Swinney, urging him to act. The letter, co-signed by a coalition of charities including Barnardo’s Scotland, Save the Children, and the Child Poverty Action Group, described the proposed increase as “life-changing” and “a policy that is working – but needs to work harder and reach further”. The Herald has also called on the Prime Minister to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The campaign has already sparked political reaction. In an exclusive interview, First Minister John Swinney described the current levels of child poverty as a “matter of shame.”

With the backing of a broad coalition and the weight of public opinion, the Herald’s campaign is a rallying cry for change. As the open letter puts it: “First Minister, you have the power to make a profound and lasting difference to the lives of Scotland’s children.” 

Catherine Salmond, editor of the Herald, said: “This week, we have heard the human stories behind the statistics and from those charities fighting for a better quality of life for Scottish children.

“Together, we are now calling on the Scottish Government to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 to help them have a better life. This marks the start of our campaigning for change.”