Emma Jackson reflects on Challenge Poverty Week

I recently heard a Scottish political commentator say (and I paraphrase): "poverty can’t be ended, no other country has done it, so why do we think we can."

It’s stuck with me. Or rather, infuriated me. It’s true, poverty exists across the globe. However, even though something is chronic and complex that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible to achieve.

As Challenge Poverty Week comes to a close, the ground swell of ambition and action from across civic society has not only been clearly visible, but a way forward laid out that really could see an end to poverty. 

Poverty costs all of us. First and foremost, it’s devasting for those forced to experience it. The relationship between poverty and trauma is deeply intertwined, robbing people of their potential and often directing the course of their lives. It affects physical and mental wellbeing, removing people from the labour market, increasing demand for the NHS and other services.

National Records of Scotland report people in our most deprived areas spend more than one third of their lives in poor health. Poverty puts a chokehold on prosperity for key communities, pushing back growth. And while the moral imperative and compassion for our fellow citizens should drive us to end poverty, we cannot afford not to. The cost of inaction rises every day.  

Poverty also costs those on the frontline of supporting people experiencing the most complex of circumstances. The effects of vicarious trauma are real. Staff, including advisers from the 59 CABs across Scotland, repeatedly encounter those enduring the most harrowing situations, including people considering suicide. It’s hard to stop thinking about people in your community who are cold, hungry and have given up hope.  

Challenge Poverty Week brings into laser sharp focus the solutions needed to tackle poverty. With clear asks across housing, transport and social security to ensure that everyone has enough to live a decent and dignified life, coupled with fair and sustainable funding for the third sector – a roadmap to end poverty exists. Many of these asks are not new, but a renewed commitment from governments to choose to act on them is needed. Alongside the resources and infrastructure essential to deliver these. 

During the pandemic, we witnessed, at pace and scale, a willingness to tackle wicked problems in a collegiate manner that delivered real outcomes for people. Politicians reached across political divides; bureaucracy was cut through. Things changed in ways we never thought possible.

What would it look like to again harness this agility and determination? To capitalise on public concern about poverty? Recent polling from Save the Children shows 85% of people in Scotland are concerned about the scale of child poverty and more than 85% support policy interventions to tackle the big drivers of poverty (housing, pay and conditions and childcare).  

Cultural Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said: “never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Poverty is not inevitable. It is a political choice. In a just and compassionate Scotland, we can choose something different. Change the status quo to ensure everyone has enough to live a decent and dignified life. The Scottish Citizens Advice Network remains committed to doing this. This Challenge Poverty Week and beyond.  

Emma Jackson is head of the Social Justice team at  Citizens Advice Scotland.

This column was first published in the Herald.