Published on 27th March 2025. Next update: March 2026

The Child Poverty Act 2017 contains four income-based targets to reduce child poverty in Scotland by 2030. The charts show the interim and final targets and the latest poverty estimates and trends. The dots and labels show single-year estimates, the shaded areas show indicative 95% confidence intervals around the single-year estimates, and the lines show the three-year averages. Single-year estimates give the latest best estimates, and three-year averages show trends more accurately.

The charts show that relative and absolute child poverty fell between 1994/95, when data collection began, and 2011/12. Since then, relative child poverty gradually increased a little for a few years, but in recent years, both relative and absolute child poverty have shown little consistent change, with the most recent levels above the relative and absolute interim targets.

The estimate for combined low income and material deprivation is not comparable to previous trends as a new suite of questions for child material deprivation has been included in the survey the data are derived from. The most recent estimate is slightly above the interim target and has been marked in a different colour to the indicate the change in series.

The estimate for persistent child poverty has fluctuated between 12% and 19% since data collection started in 2010. The estimate for this measure increased to 23% in the latest period which is higher than the interim target. Persistent poverty estimates tend to be routinely revised due to respondents re-joining the survey in future years.

Definition: Proportion of children living in households with equivalised incomes below 60% of the median (middle) UK income in the current year.

Definition: Proportion of children in households with equivalised incomes below 70% of the median UK income and going without certain basic goods and services.

Definition: Proportion of children living in households with equivalised incomes below 60% of the median UK income in 2010/11 adjusted for inflation.

Definition: Proportion of children who have lived in relative poverty in three or more of the last four years.

More information and further child poverty analysis is available in the main report and on the Scottish Government child poverty analysis pages.