COVID-19 impacting Scotland’s poorest families the most

Date: 12th October 2020
Category: Child poverty

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Includem asked young people and families about their experiences of meeting day-to-day costs and what impact COVID-19 has had on them. Two thirds of respondents reliant on social security reported they were in a worse financial position now than before the pandemic and half said their debt was greater.

Of the 126 young people and families surveyed, 65% reported social security was their primary source of income. The remaining 35% reported that employment was their primary source of income at the start of lockdown, however this is changing as unemployment increases.

Key findings from the report include:

• Food:49% of families reported struggling to put food on the table on a regular basis, rising to 60% for families on social security.
• Transport:half of surveyed families reported regularly struggling to cover transport costs.
• Heating costs:over half of all families and two-thirds of families receiving social security reported regular issues paying for heating.
• Digital access:almost half of all families surveyed (47%) reported regular issues in affording the costs associated with accessing the internet.
• Mental health:73% of surveyed families reported that their mental health was worse than it had been pre-pandemic and was as high as 82% for families reliant on social security.

Read the report in full here.