New data highlights impact of child poverty in Scotland

Date: 21st August 2019
Category: Child poverty

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National Records of Scotland’s (NRS) figures show that poverty has a stark effect on children’s life expectancy and healthy life expectancy.

NRS’s population projections estimate that children in less deprived areas are expected to live longer and have a heathier life, than those in more deprived areas. For instance, a boy born in 2016 in one of the 10% most deprived areas of Scotland is expected to live for 13 years less than a boy from the most affluent areas. For females the difference is expected to be 9.6 years.

The data suggest that deprivation has an even greater effect on healthy life expectancy, as both males and females from the most affluent areas can expect to spend 85% of their lives in good health, while this drops to 70.8% for males and 65.5% for females in the most deprived areas.

The data also notes a decline in the Scottish birth rate, with the figure for 2018 being 3% lower than in 2017. Birth rates in Scotland are lower than the rest of the UK and have been since the 1980s.

• Read the full report here.