The ordinary Scots challenging poverty to shape policy

By Chris Clements

On February 23, 2023

Andrew Anderson is one of a panel of 16 Scots currently experiencing poverty who are helping to inform policy on tackling inequality

“As an adult, you know what poverty is,” he says. “You can feel it in yourself,”

But he wants to hide the struggles from his daughter Mia.

“As a six-year-old, the world is a fairground,” he says.

“You’ve got to hide it from her,” the 42-year-old part-time nursery assistant says.

“You don’t want to have her thinking she is taking everything from you and you are going without.

“She knows if something is not right, or dad’s upset, or I’m struggling to do something.”

Andrew lives in rented accommodation in Dunfermline with Mia.

He tells BBC Scotland about his daily struggles such as hiding his small portions at meal times, his daughter’s second-hand toys and keeping the house warm on a budget.

His growing energy debt – currently £1,600 – is his biggest worry.

“I’m stuck in a rut,” he says. “How am I supposed to fix that? How can I fix that when there is no money coming in to fix it?

“Whereas a year ago it was costing £60 to £100 a month, it is triple now.

“Then you have your rent charge on top of that. With that added to your energy prices, you are talking about £6,000 to £7,000 a year just to live in a house.

“That’s without buying food, without clothing for Mia, without thinking about birthdays and Christmas.

“It is a horrible situation to be in. It keeps me awake at night.”

Andrew and Mia are classed as living in relative poverty, which means their income is less than 60% of the middle household income for families of the same size across the UK, after housing costs.

They are included in statistics published by the Scottish government about poverty in Scotland, which show little recent change in poverty levels for children, working-age adults and pensioners, despite the cost of living crisis.

It said 24% of children were living in relative poverty after housing costs, as were 21% of working-age adults and 15% of pensioners. The latest estimates cover the period between April 2019 and March 2022.

The report also said persistent poverty is gradually increasing.

For the past 18 months, Andrew has been giving evidence to the Poverty and Inequality Commission, which provides independent advice and scrutiny to Scottish government ministers on poverty and inequality.

The commission was set up four years ago by the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act and has a statutory role in scrutinising the Scottish government’s plans to tackle child poverty.

As part of the scheme, it set up the “experts by experience” panel. It features 16 members from different communities and backgrounds across Scotland who are classed as living in poverty.

‘I am not a failure’

The panel meets once a month and asks how policies could be changed to make their lives easier.

Andrew says: “I wanted to see if it was just me, is it something I am doing wrong? Have I put myself in this situation?

“But hearing people who are having the same struggles, the same fuel price cost, the cost of food going through the roof, it gives you the feeling that I am not a failure.”

He believes his evidence to the commission helped convince the Scottish government to roll out bridging payments for older children as part of its Child Payment benefit.

He says: “We were part of the conversation to roll out the Scottish Child Payment to under-16s. We feel like we were massively involved in that, because we pushed really hard.

“The Child Payment for under-sixes was needed. But from six-to-16, I think they need it more.

“There was a gap there. That was one thing I was really pleased that I got out of the commission.”

‘You don’t feel as scared’

Isla Wands, 25, is a single mother from Blairgowrie in Perthshire.

She is living on benefits and cares for her four-year-old daughter Maisie, who has a rare genetic condition called CHARGE syndrome.

Since July last year, she has been a contributor to BBC Scotland’s coverage of the cost of living crisis.

She is also a member of the “experts by experience” panel.

“It does feel really isolating when your friends and your family are not in the same situation as you, they aren’t relying on benefits,” she says.

“To speak to other people in similar circumstances, whilst you feel sad for them being in that position, it is refreshing to know that you’re not alone.

“You don’t feel as scared, you don’t feel as lonely and you know that you are all in it together.”

She adds: “The fact that we got here is disappointing, but it is nice to be able to work together and make a difference.”

‘Interim targets likely to be met’

In 2017, the Scottish government set itself stringent targets to reduce child poverty over the coming decade.

By 2030, the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act says the government should have reduced the number of children living in relative poverty to just 10%.

Before that, it must hit interim targets by end of next financial year, with a reduction to 18% by March 2024.

The latest figures show 24% of Scottish children are classed as living in poverty, lower than the UK rate of 29%. About two-thirds of those 230,000 children come from working households.

Bill Scott, chairman of the Poverty and Inequality Commission, said the latest statistics made clear the scale of the task for the Scottish government.

He said: “These figures do not give strong evidence of progress and I’m concerned that the gap between where we are and where we need to be remains large.”

Mr Scott said he hoped to see the increase to the Scottish Child Payment making an impact in future years.

“These figures coupled with the cost-of-living crisis gives the Scottish government an extremely challenging outlook to meet its commitment to reduce child poverty and reach Scotland’s statutory targets,” he said.

Mr Scott hopes that the use of the panel will be “a model for public services in Scotland that actually involves the people at the sharp end”.

He adds: “People who actually have experience – in this case, of poverty – are helping to design and develop the policies that are actually needed to tackle poverty.

“They know what works and what doesn’t work, because they experience it every day.”

This piece was republished from the BBC.