Save The Children polling shows the issue is of vital importance to voters ahead of next year's Holyrood election

Save The Children Scotland is calling on political parties to “change the story” on child poverty.

With six months to go until the Scottish Parliament election, the charity is calling on Scotland’s political leaders to step up and commit to taking bold action for better childhoods, and deliver the real change people want to see.  

Polling conducted by Save The Children shows thar people in Scotland are demanding more action. 

Over three quarters of people (77%) want decision-makers to take more action on child poverty. People also say that they are concerned about the number of children being held back by poverty (76%) and want to see the Scottish Government take action.

The polling was carried out as part of Save the Children’s Changing the Story project. The project aims to find out what people in Scotland think about child poverty, and to tell a new story about child poverty that chimes with those feelings, and with families who are experiencing poverty.

The charity said that the next Holyrood administration will be the government tasked with delivering on the shared ambition of a Scotland free from child poverty, where every child can thrive. It said all parties must set out exactly how they will achieve this.  

Save the Children is calling for all parties to commit to: 

• Delivering a Better for Babies guarantee by delivering social security support for families with a baby under one by increasing Best Start Foods and the Best Start Pregnancy and Baby Payment, and ensuring every family can access good quality community-based family support.
• Increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £55. 
• Make services like childcare work for families, not hold them back. 

Claire Telfer, head of Scotland at Save the Children said: "The alarm bells are ringing. With just six months to go until the election, politicians can't afford to hit snooze. The election is a huge opportunity for all politicians in Scotland to commit to working faster and harder to end child poverty. It's an opportunity to choose to meaningfully invest in children and in families for better childhoods today, and a better future for all of us tomorrow. 

"When voters go to the polls in May, they need to know how parties which hope to form the next Scottish Government will deliver the change they want to see, and how they'll work for a better future for us all.

“That means committing to meaningful and measurable action like a guarantee that families with a baby will be supported through targeted social security and access to support in their communities, increasing the Scottish Child Payment, and shaping a childcare system that works for families. 

"Scotland needs its political leaders to make bold and brave choices to improve childhoods today, invest in a brighter tomorrow, and rebuild trust in politics. We can't accept less for our children today, and for generations to come."