Poverty levels laid bare in shock figures
Twoyearsof stepsinthe rightdirection
Nearly a quarter of children in East Kilbride and Avondale are living on the breadline.
And that’s just one of the hard facts gleaned from the council’s child poverty action report during Challenge Poverty Week.
Shocking figures from East Kilbride Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) also show that in the last two years, 248 East Kilbride residents have debts totalling just over £6.7 million.
That’s an average debt of £27,000 per person.
And 35 per cent of CAB debt clients are living in fuel poverty.
Twenty thousand food parcels were provided across the region last year and 23 per cent of all households were affected by fuel poverty.
More than 100 organisations supported Challenge Poverty this year with around 200 events organised locally to show the reality of poverty in Scotland, challenge the stereotypes, highlight the solutions and increase public support to help tackle the problem.
And the key message was: ‘Challenge Poverty? Aye we can!’
East Kilbride Citizens Advice Bureau manager Michelle Campbell said: “Too many people in Scotland are trapped in the grip of poverty. By boosting people’s incomes and reducing the cost of living we can solve poverty.
“Solving poverty is about ensuring we can all participate in a just and compassionate society.
“This Scotland-wide campaign is designed to show that poverty exists in Scotland and affects us all, that people can work to end it, that it restricts people’s ability to take part in society, and that it can be solved by boosting incomes and reducing costs of living.”
A family is considered to be living in relative poverty if their household income is below 60 per cent of the average UK household income of £28,400.
This means that just under 14,000 children in South Lanarkshire (22 per cent) are living in poverty.
The report found that 20 per cent of kids in EK and Strathaven kids are povertystricken.
In East Kilbride and Strathaven the highest percentage of children on the breadline reside in North East Calderwood – 44 per cent.
In Greenhills 38.8 per cent of children are living in poverty with the third highest population in Strathaven South – 25.5 per cent.
South Lanarkshire’s local child poverty action report outlines work done by the council, health board and wider partnership to tackle child poverty.
These plans outlined some of the key poverty challenges and focused on priorities such as increasing income from employment, reducing the cost of living and increasing income from social security and benefits in kind.
East Kilbride CAB offers a Financial health Check service to residents that is carried out by their Money Talks team.
This ensures that people are receiving all of the benefits they are entitled to. They also advise on areas where savings may be made, such as gas, electricity and broadband.
Michelle added: “We also provide assistance to claim all benefits and we currently operate a specific service to assist people with claiming Universal Credit (Help to Claim).
“We would encourage anyone who is struggling with any issue to seek advice from us or any other organisation that can help.”
South Lanarkshire Council has created the booklet When Money is Tight which has practical advice for when budgets are stretched and information to help you make ends meet. A snapshot of progress in 2018/19:
• Over 1000 families benefitted from the Money Matters advice line and CAB Health Checks
• A new group was established to improve how local organisations work together to ensure South Lanarkshire residents can access welfare benefits with minimum difficulty.
• Over the past year 1800 council homes have been made available for let with 35 per cent were allocated to family households providing good quality affordable homes for over 1000 children and young people.
• Over 6000 households received energy advice to help tackle fuel debt with less families experiencing fuel poverty - 11 per cent.
• 567 children benefitted from new school holiday clubs providing free lunch. 68 per cent of schools now have a free breakfast club. Nurseries are also now providing free lunches.
• 81.5 per cent of children are using their free school meal entitlement.
• 113 primary schools and eight secondaries have school-based credit unions.
• The employment rate stands at 76.4 per cent – one of the highest ever recorded in South Lanarkshire.
• 742 vulnerable young people were supported through the Aspire Youth Employability Service.
• The number of local employers achieving Living Wage Accreditation increased to 68 – the second highest in Scotland.