Public debt and child poverty crisis addressed at national conference
Published: 18 March 2025
Scotland’s public debt crisis and its impact on child poverty was addressed at a national conference, hosted by Scottish children’s charity Aberlour and the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Public Policy.
Scotland’s public debt crisis and its impact on child poverty was addressed at a national conference, hosted by Scottish children’s charity Aberlour and the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Public Policy.
Despite ambitious child poverty targets, 1 in 4 children continue to grow up in poverty, and the burden of debt on families continues to widen inequality. The way in which public debt is managed and recovered often pushes struggling families further into financial hardship, making it nearly impossible to break free from the cycle of poverty.
While governments, at national and local level, work to reduce child poverty and ease its toll on the lives and life chances of young Scots, the public sector is chasing debt in a way that is trapping families in a cycle of seized benefits, missed payments, new loans and extortionate interest.
The conference built on research undertaken by Aberlour Children’s Charity with the University of Glasgow’s Professor Morag Treanor that looks at how local authorities could recover debt differently, in a more compassionate way that can help families escape poverty and not risk making their financial situation even worse.
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville; Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland; Professor Nicola McEwen, Director of the Centre for Public Policy; and SallyAnn Kelly OBE, Chief Executive of Aberlour, all spoke at the event. They were joined by a cross-party panel of politicians, who discussed the key issues during a live recording of the University’s Spotlight podcast.
Ms Somerville shared the measures that the Scottish Government is taking, including increasing emergency funding for councils in Scotland to reduce the impact of school meal debt on families, investment in early years funding and more support for parents entering employment.
“Social security is a fundamental human right that offers support any of us could need at any time in our lives” Ms Somerville said, reminding those present that tackling child poverty would require working in partnership across all levels of government.
Professor Morag Treanor is a leading specialist in interrogating data to expose how child poverty is caused and how it might be eased. She said: “Public debt recovery must be overhauled to help families out of poverty instead of driving them deeper into debt. Designing a more humane and less punitive system is morally the right thing but, on a purely practical level, child poverty will never be properly tackled until the public debt crisis is tackled.
“That’s why we’re calling on politicians to tackle public debt reform as a matter of urgency, especially for families who are on the brink.”
Aberlour’s chief executive SallyAnn Kelly OBE believes there must be communication between public sector organisations and more empathy for families, particularly women with children, in debt. She said: “The public sector must recover debt differently, in a more compassionate, empathetic way that will help families escape poverty, not risk making their financial situation even worse.
“More understanding, communication and discretion in pursuit of this debt will cost nothing while the rewards, for children, their families, and our country, would be priceless.”
Professor Nicola McEwen, Director of the Centre for Public Policy, said: “We are really pleased to see so many people from the third sector, government, academia and beyond coming together at the University of Glasgow to discuss this incredibly important and challenging policy issue. The Centre for Public Policy was established to shine a light on policy challenges. We collaborate with the policy community to share learning from research and work towards more effective policy outcomes.”
First published: 18 March 2025