Community-led approaches to addressing child poverty

This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 8th April 2026

What Matters to You (WM2U) is working in Dundee and Clackmannanshire to explore how lived experience and community priorities can be used to tackle Scotland’s child poverty crisis.

"By empowering local communities and working hand-in-hand with the public sector, WM2U is enabling people to co-create the solutions,” their manifesto for the Scottish Parliament elections states.

1 in 4 children in Scotland live in poverty, with ministers required by the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act to reduce this to fewer than 10% by 2030.

WM2U is building on learning from its work locally to highlight community-led approaches that could be scaled up across Scotland. One commitment they're seeking is for 25% of Scotland’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund being controlled by families in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 1-4 areas.

"Local, family-led panels will decide how this money is spent, aiming for at least half of all awards going to new, community-run initiatives," the manifesto says.

Elsewhere, a minimum income guarantee is emerging as a response to solving Scotland's persistent poverty and inequality, with organisations such as The Poverty Alliance is calling for political parties to commit to developing this approach.