‘Death of childhood’ Charity chief on why the poverty crisis is destroying the lives of Scottish kids
SCOTLAND’S poverty crisis means children now “face a daily war to survive”, according to one of the nation’s most influential charity leaders.
Mary Glasgow, chief executive of Children 1st – the charity formerly known as the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children – spoke out about the damage poverty is doing to the nation’s most vulnerable children in an emotional interview in today’s Herald on Sunday.
She says that the brutalising effects of poverty mean that childhood itself is becoming shorter and shorter in Scotland as young people are forced to face adult fears much earlier than previous generations.
“We don’t let children be children for any real length of time. We aren’t protecting childhood, never mind children. This will absolutely come back to bite us.”
Glasgow says the crisis facing children is “enormous. Families are just completely overwhelmed by how difficult things are, and there’s no respite”.
The charity leader added: “Honestly, I’m overwhelmed by the enormous levels of poverty we see.”
An estimated 10,000 Scottish children are homeless today and living in temporary accommodation, like cheap B&Bs, sometimes for up to two years. One in four Scottish children live in poverty, although Glasgow believes that statistic is an underestimation. “It’s horrific,” she said.
One of Glasgow’s staff was on the verge of tears recently as he described a mother “surviving on toast” so her children could eat.
“There are children who are having childhoods that are absolutely heartbreaking.”
She described Dickensian conditions with “children living in cold houses where there’s not enough food”, adding: “Today, we have to make sure children have beds to sleep in, that they have school clothes and shoes to wear, and that their most basic needs are met. But it’s 2024.
“Children are living in circumstances they haven’t created or have any control over. It’s cruelty.”
Parents are struggling “to even keep children warm and fed”. The Scottish Government isn’t “spending money in the right places”, Glasgow says. “I get furious about what’s happening. We must find a way out of this.”
Children 1st has “seen huge increases in the number of families where poverty is the main issue”. Previously, Children 1st dealt mostly with child neglect. Today, it’s poverty.
“The majority of children we support now live in families where poverty is having a huge impact on their lives. They simply don’t have money to cover the basics.”
When Glasgow asks her 300 staff about the main issue they’re dealing with, “quick as that they say ‘poverty’. If I’d asked a few years ago, poverty wouldn’t have been first”.
She said: “We’re not a poverty charity. We’re about keeping children safe. Five years ago, the biggest issue would have been addiction or domestic abuse.
“Now our staff say ‘how can we even talk to parents about creating safe environments at home when they’re absolutely terrified about how they’re going to pay their bills or get food on the table’.
“People are carrying a level of anxiety that I don’t think we’ve seen before and it’s not getting any better.”
Poverty is “having the most dreadful, catastrophic impact on children’s development, health and wellbeing”, Glasgow says.
She believes “there’s real risk we’re slipping back to a Victorianstyle gap between rich and poor”.
Glasgow added: “The level of inequality between those who have enough and those who don’t will have devastating long-term consequences for Scotland if we don’t take urgent action to change things.”