Families with Dependant Children Hit Hard by Virus Crisis

Almost half (49 per cent) of all families with dependant children across Scotland are struggling to make ends meet in the context of the coronavirus crisis.

Scots with children are being particularly badly hit by the economic side of the pandemic, with large numbers of households seeing their incomes reduced and many others finding themselves being made redundant.

While almost one in two families with dependant children are struggling financially, the same is true for closer to one in three households who do not have offspring to worry about.

The figures suggest there are now roughly 300,000 families in Scotland with dependent children who would classify themselves as either ‘struggling to make ends meet’ or ‘in serious financial difficulty’.

Around one in five Scots with dependent children say their current circumstances put them in the ‘serious financial difficulty’ category, which equates to roughly 100,000 households across the country.

People in that category are those most likely to be finding it tough to cover the costs of the most basic and essential of expenses, including food and rental payments.

The data on these issues has been compiled through a collaboration between the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Scotland and the Standard Life Foundation, with the latter having created what it is calling a Covid-19 Financial Impact Tracker.

Only around 15 per cent of Scots with dependant children would describe themselves as being financially secure, which compares to around 30 per cent of the wider population.

The figures reflecting the financial difficulties of Scottish families in the context of the Covid-19 crisis are more or less in line with those elsewhere across the UK.

Describing the unfolding situation affecting so many households as “very worrying”, the IPPR has called on both the UK and Scottish governments to take action to specifically support families in financial difficulty.

“The scale of financial difficulties facing families with children in Scotland is truly shocking,” said Russell Gunson, a director at IPPR Scotland.  

“The COVID-19 crisis is affecting everyone, but when it comes to the financial impact on families, it’s not hitting everyone equally.”

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