One in 10 in absolute poverty
One in 10 children in Scotland still lives in absolute poverty, a new report from the Scottish Government has shown, although the number fell from 110,000 to 100,000 in a year. One in five - about 200,000 children - lives in relative poverty, with a fall again of 10,000. The proportions of children in relative and absolute poverty both decreased by one percentage point between 2008-09 and 2009-10.
`Aspiration gap’ in young Scots
Almost 19 per cent of young people from Scotland’s poorest families believe they will achieve “few” or “none” of their goals in life, a report by The Prince’s Trust has revealed. The study found that 13 per cent of young people in Scotland expected to “end up in a dead-end job”. Geraldine Gammell, director of The Prince’s Trust Scotland, said the “aspiration gap” between Scotland’s richest and poorest young people was creating a “youth underclass”.
Fees put off part-time students
An IPSOS-Mori poll for the Open University in Scotland has found that a quarter of Scots are put off studying part-time because of tuition fees. Of those who were unemployed, around half said they would like to go to university, but 73 per cent said the prospect of fees prevented them from doing so. NUS Scotland president Liam Burns said the union had demanded the scrapping of fees for part-time students earning under pound;30,000.
Payout for St Margaret’s staff
Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers who worked at St Margaret’s School in Edinburgh have been awarded the maximum 90 days payments by an employment tribunal in Edinburgh, following the school’s closure last June. The ATL had taken action against school trustees for redundancy entitlements, arguing that they had failed to consult staff. The ruling will result in payments ranging from pound;3,000 to pound;7,000.
Child-abuse text line launched
Children’s charity the NSPCC has launched a text service which allows adults throughout the UK to report child abuse to its helpline immediately. The text number - 88858 - is free and available 24 hours a day. The move follows an NSPCC poll showing that almost half of adults who had concerns about a child, but did not report these immediately, did not take action at a later stage.
