Now is the time to act seriously to tackle child poverty according to Louise Cameron chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), who spoke to TFN
The Scottish Youth Parliament has recently launched its campaign ‘Poverty: See It Change It’, what is it all about?
The campaign aims to: raise awareness among young people and wider society about child and youth poverty; combat popular negative stigmas and speak about the reality of poverty in Scotland; and, challenge elected leaders and key stakeholders to work together to end child poverty by 2020.
Why 2020?
In 1999, the UK government made the commitment to tackle child poverty in the nation by then. The UK Child Poverty Act 2010 made this commitment into law. Right now more than one in five of Scotland’s children are considered to be living in poverty. This is much higher than in many other European countries. With only five years to go until 2020, the Scottish Youth Parliament hopes its campaign will send the message that now is the time to seriously act.
What do you hope to achieve from the campaign?
I believe it is time that we recognise the reality of poverty in Scotland, and make it our priority to work together to challenge the common misconceptions and negative stigmas it entails. It is unacceptable that so many children and young people in Scotland live in poverty. Many young people in Scotland are simply robbed of their childhood. They are robbed of the opportunity to use their passion and talents to create a better and more prosperous future for themselves. This issue transcends party politics and goes to the very heart of who we are, and who we want to be as a nation. By working together, we can strive to ensure elected leaders uphold the commitment to tackle child poverty in Scotland and the UK by the year 2020.
It is unacceptable that so many children and young people in Scotland live in poverty. Many young people in Scotland are simply robbed of their childhood
What are some of the stigma’s of poverty you spoke about wanting to change?
Unfortunately, there is an image of poverty that is portrayed and largely stereotyped by television and other media. These stereotypes attempt to define poverty as an issue that only exists in certain areas and only affects certain people. The truth is that poverty can affect anyone, at any time.
How can people show their support?
I’ve been encouraging people to engage with the campaign on social media, and show their support by using our hashtag #seeitchangeit. We can strive to stop the stigma by sharing content on social media that will encourage others to think twice before stereotyping poverty, and helping to highlight the impact poverty can have on anyone's life, at any time.
Who can get involved in the campaign?
Anyone can get involved in this activity and tell us what needs to change about poverty in their local community. You can download the Stop the Stigma materials from the SYP website and find further details of what you can do.
Louise Cameron, MSYP, is chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament.
