From UK Poverty 2026, published today:

Child poverty rates in Scotland (23%) remain much lower than those in England (31%) and Wales (31%), similar to levels in Northern Ireland (24%). This is likely to be due, at least in part, to the Scottish Child Payment (SCP). This highlights the effect benefits can have in reducing poverty. Another driver of lower child poverty rates in Scotland and Northern Ireland are lower housing costs.

https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2026-the-essential-guide-to-understanding-poverty-in-the-uk

23% of children in poverty in Scotland is, of course, not good enough and campaigners should keep calling for its eradication but, equally, they should be careful not to be exploited by opposition parties, who in power, would surely only achieve the even worse levels we see in England and Wales.

23% and 31% is ‘only’ an 8% difference, or is it? 31% is around 33% or one third higher than 23%.

Even more important, that 8% difference is 8% of something – around 900 000 children in Scotland and 9 million in rUK.

Finally, see the lower housing costs? They didn’t just happen. The Scottish Government has been working for nearly 20 years to achieve that.

So, there are around 72 thousand children in Scotland not in poverty, who would be if they lived in England or Wales under a Labour government and nearly three quarters of a million of children in poverty, in England or Wales who would not be in poverty if they lived under a government following SNP policies like the child payment.