Annual Report 2023/24 - Monitoring Progress
Foodbank usage/Children living in low income families
Foodbank Usage
Foodbank Usage has trebled since 2018. There were 137 parcels distributed between Shetland Foodbank and Anchor for Families per month in 2023/24; an increase of 3 per month on the previous year. 142 of the 1369 people supported by Shetland Foodbank were under 16, 10% of those supported. Food provision from the Brae food larder and the Salvation Army is not included in these figures.
Figures for Scotland are largely unchanged from the record levels of 2022/23; the busiest year ever for food banks in the Trussell Trust network. The Trussell Trust highlight that significant increases in need are linked to the ‘soaring’ cost of living for people across Scotland and the fact that people’s incomes (especially from welfare benefits) have failed to keep up with these costs. The cost of essentials has also continued to rise in this period; food prices were 24% higher in March 2024 than in March 2022, for example.
Children Living in Low Income Families
Children Living in Low Income Families increased slightly from 11.8%* to 12.3% between 2022 and 2023. This was the third lowest level in Scotland, behind East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire.
12.3% is, however, higher than pre-pandemic levels and the higher cost of living in remote and rural Scotland is not factored into these figures. The cost of living in Shetland is 20-65% higher than the UK Mainland (Minimum Income Standard 2016). The Shetland Partnership continues to highlight the need to redo this research to the Scottish Government, in order to understand the impacts of Brexit, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis on Shetland’s cost of living, relative to the UK.
In general, the statistics in Scotland and Shetland show a gradual increase in levels of child poverty since the early 2010s (Scottish Government), although levels are consistently lower in Shetland than Scotland as a whole.
Child Poverty Action Group highlight that poverty rarely has a single cause and that in the past, child poverty levels in the UK have been significantly lower than they are today. A range of factors including rising living costs, low pay, lack of work and relatively lower social security benefits together, mean that people do not have enough household income.
Other indicators such as Free School Meal uptake, Education Maintenance Allowance and School Clothing Grants can be helpful to get a more rounded picture of child poverty.
After housing costs are considered, 16.4% of children in Shetland were living in poverty (End Child Poverty Coalition and Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University 2024). This was a 3.1% increase since 2015, the 14th highest change of all 32 local authorities. For comparison, Orkney’s decreased by 0.9% and East Renfrewshire’s decreased by 1.0% in the same time frame. The Local Child Poverty Action Report contains further detail about how the Partnership is monitoring and working to overcome child poverty in Shetland.
*Last year we reported 11.6%. The statistics reflect revisions to previously published statistics. More information can be found on the UK Government website.