We should always be trying to make poverty history
The poor may always be with us, but politicians should make every effort to alleviate the problem
“Make poverty history” was a slogan that galvanised Scots across the political spectrum as world leaders gathered for the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2008.
An estimated 225,000 people marched under the banner in Edinburgh, as musicians performed in Live 8 concerts around the globe and politicians and religious leaders delivered speeches backing the cause.
Twenty years later, poverty is sadly still very much with us, both at home and abroad.
A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found the Scottish Government is on course to miss its child poverty reduction target by a “large margin”.
The Child Poverty ( Scotland ) Act 2017 set targets to cut child poverty to 18 per cent by 2024/25 and to 10 per cent by 2030/31.
But around one in four Scottish children remain in poverty, and levels are "largely the same" as they were at the start of the current parliamentary session in 2021.
The foundation has called for all the parties standing in next year’s Scottish Parliament election to increase spending on social security and expand free nursery places for low-income households.
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First Minister John Swinney points to the SNP’s decision to scrap the two-child limit benefit cap as a measure that has helped thousands of families, and called on the UK government to follow suit.
There are other measures the Scottish Government has taken, such as free school meals, that can help alleviate poverty.
But perhaps the most effective way of tackling the problem is growing the economy - and on that front there is plenty of room for improvement from Mr Swinney and his administration.
“The poor you will always have with you,” Christ told his disciples, according to Saint Matthew’s Gospel.
This may be true, but it is no reason for our politicians not to do all they can to lessen the effects of poverty.
In the words of Chris Birt, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation associate director for Scotland: “You might try to meet our poverty targets and fail, but it is unacceptable not to try at all.”
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