Child Power: growing children’s activism to end child poverty

Date: 10th July 2026
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Children’s Parliament has launched Child Power, a programme designed to grow children’s activism and strengthen their role in ending child poverty across Scotland. Working with children aged 7–14, the initiative helps them explore their rights, understand the realities of poverty, and develop the confidence and skills to influence the adults and systems around them.

Through creative workshops, peer learning and community‑based projects, children are supported to identify what needs to change in their own lives and to turn those insights into collective action. The programme emphasises that children are not passive recipients of policy but active rights‑holders whose lived experience is essential to shaping solutions.

Child Power also connects children directly with decision‑makers, giving them platforms to share their ideas and challenge the structures that keep families in poverty. Early findings show that when children are given space, trust and meaningful participation, they generate bold, practical proposals rooted in fairness and dignity.

As Scotland continues to grapple with rising child poverty, Children’s Parliament argues that children’s voices must be at the heart of national efforts – not as a token gesture, but as a driving force for real change. Children’s views on tackling child poverty have also been summarised by the Children’s Parliament in their 2026 report “We’ve done our work, what will YOU do? - Children’s views on tackling child poverty in Scotland”.

Find more information on Child Power

Access the 2026 report on children’s views on tackling child poverty in Scotland