With child poverty still affecting nearly one in four children in Scotland, the next Holyrood parliament must prove it can turn pledges into progress — or risk failing a generation, says Chris Birt of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

The next parliament is going to be a litmus test for Holyrood. MSPs have set challenging targets to cut child poverty to below 10 per cent by 2030, yet as the report we have published today shows, they are nowhere near meeting them.

There are almost a quarter of a million children in poverty in Scotland, shockingly that’s nearly one in four. The stark question facing MSPs and candidates from all parties is this: are you going to meekly let the targets pass you by, or are you going to try to meet them and start changing people’s lives?

Every party in the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of these targets in 2017, literally no-one voted against it. It wasn’t just some numbers, it was a pledge for a very positive, radical change to society. But so far, change has been far too slow and has lacked the necessary ambition.

What exactly did those MSPs think they were voting for, if it wasn’t for change that would involve........

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