Poverty in Scotland 2024
This year our report asks how effective social security is at reducing poverty and advancing equality in Scotland.
Chris leads the Scotland team at JRF that works to find solutions to poverty in Scotland and amplify the voices of people experiencing poverty. The team works with partners across the public, private and third sectors to advocate for solutions that will loosen poverty’s grip on people in Scotland, and to inspire more people to understand it and take action to solve it. Prior to joining JRF, Chris worked for the Scottish Government as Head of the First Minister’s Policy and Delivery Unit. He was formerly a government lawyer, working principally on NHS and social care law.
Email: chris.birt@jrf.org.uk
This year our report asks how effective social security is at reducing poverty and advancing equality in Scotland.
Too many people in Northern Ireland experience poverty and economic insecurity. With the Executive and Assembly restored, JRF is building our involvement in Northern Ireland.
This year’s State of the Nation report looks in detail at whether work is working for people in Scotland.
In this blog, Chris Birt explores how the cost of living crisis is impacting on people’s physical and mental health and how that is piling pressure on the already struggling Scottish NHS.
This briefing studies the shocking increase in very deep poverty in Scotland. The Scottish and UK Government need to reconsider their priorities if they are to argue that no one is left behind. It is possible, and the case for changing course is clear.
This year’s Poverty in Scotland paints a bleak picture of a society in crisis. It demands action from all tiers of government to avert the worst of this crisis, and time is short.
JRF and Save the Children recently worked together to respond to the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan - Best Start Bright Futures.
This report explores the rates of poverty of Northern Ireland and assesses the impact that poverty is having on the lives of people who live there. It also looks at how Northern Ireland’s rates of relative poverty compare with those elsewhere in the UK.