Child poverty creating invisible generation, says Gordon Brown

Lack of action to tackle child poverty is creating “a generation of invisible boys and girls'', according to former prime minister Gordon Brown.

He accused both the Scottish and UK governments of ignoring what he described as “a national disgrace'', and called for increases in welfare payments to address the issue.

The number of children living in poverty is set to increase to 5.2 million by 2022, up from around four million at present, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Meanwhile a separate report commissioned by the Scottish Government and published in April shows a sharp rise in child poverty north of the border, with a projected increase of more than 100,000 by the mid 2020s.

Mr Brown said the problem had reached “epidemic proportions'', pointing to a report by think tank the Resolution Foundation which put child poverty in the UK at around 1.6 million in 2010/11, before the Conservatives came to power.

The former Labour MP is expected to use his appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Wednesday to call for increases to child tax credit - which he first introduced in 2003 as chancellor - as part of the “most cost-effective'' measures to reverse the trend.

He is expected to say: “Kirkcaldy - where I grew up - now has the fifth worst area for child poverty in Scotland - and the worst outside Glasgow. In East Kirkcaldy 40% of children are in poverty but soon, on current projections, every second child - more than 50% - will be in poverty.

“This means that without remedial action the prospects for nearly half a generation of children are today in tatters, with Westminster and Holyrood governments shamefully ignoring this national disgrace and the silent suffering and sorrows of left-out millions - and simply hoping the children, and the numbers, will remain invisible.''

He will add: “A major report by the Institute for Public Policy Research has argued that the most effective means of reducing relative child poverty would be to combine a living wage and higher child benefit with an increase in the child element of tax credits.''

Mr Brown will say that increases in child poverty are being driven by UK ministers' cuts to benefits, but he is also expected to criticise Scottish ministers over their use of newly devolved tax and social security powers.

“If the Scottish Parliament is serious about addressing child poverty, it has the power under the Scotland Act 2016 to top up tax credits,'' he will add.

“If there is any doubt on that - or on whether the HMRC has a duty to assist them in doing so - then I would support greater powers enabling the Parliament to act.''

An SNP spokesman said: “This is staggering hypocrisy from Gordon Brown, who lost the 2010 general election after Labour promised voters 'deeper and tougher' austerity than anything Margaret Thatcher imposed.

“Labour has also consistently opposed Scotland gaining the full range of economic and welfare powers which would allow us to properly tackle the scourge of child poverty that has been allowed to develop under successive Westminster Governments.'