The SNP leader and First Minister spelled out an ambition to join the likes of Denmark and Finland as he delivered a speech on fighting child poverty in Stirling on Wednesday.
The First Minister said that cutting the number of children living below the poverty line was his SNP Government’s “most important priority” – drawing a line between himself and the Labour Government’s priority of economic growth.
Swinney said the SNP’s priority was “about the sort of country that Scotland can become”.
He went on: “People often say that the eradication of child poverty is an impossibility. That is true if Scotland remains the same as it is today.
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“But my ambition, and looking around this room, I think it’s also our ambition, is for a very different Scotland.
“I’d like you to imagine for a moment, a Scotland where no child lives in poverty. What does this Scotland look like?
“It’s a wealthier Scotland. We’ve made the most of our vast renewable energy wealth to bring new jobs and opportunities across our land … Lower household fuel bills, lower energy costs for industry, fueling inward investment and business growth, more jobs, better jobs, higher wages, ongoing opportunities to learn and develop new skills.”
However, Swinney said that “wealth on its own is not enough”, going on: “It’s a fairer Scotland too, with our nation’s wealth shared more equally amongst us.
“The gap between the highest and the lowest incomes reduced, less wealth inequality, so all of our citizens have assets, pensions, savings, and if they wish, a home that they own. The wealth of all increasing, but the wealth of those with least, growing the fastest.
“Imagine it. Among the wealthiest countries in the world, the five with the lowest rates of child poverty are Denmark, with a population of 6 million, Slovenia, population 2.1 million, Finland, population 5.6 million, the Czech Republic, 10.5 million, Norway, population 5.5 million.
“These countries are amongst the most equal in the world. So why not for Scotland? With a population of 5.4 million.”
Swinney’s figures appear to have come from a 2023 Unicef report, which cited the most recent rates of child poverty from countries across the world, using a 2019-2021 average to compare.
While Denmark was ranked best with a rate of 9.9%, and Norway fifth on 12.0%. The UK was ranked in 28th place on 20.7% – while no separate rate was included for Scotland.
In March last year, figures for 2023 showed that 24% of Scottish children were in poverty, compared to 30% UK-wide.
First Minister John Swinney and Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Image: PA) Swinney said that eradicating child poverty was not “beyond the limits of what is possible for our nation, especially if we ensure that more of the decisions about Scotland are taken by and for the people of Scotland”.
He went on: “If we want it, if we prioritise it, if we make it our goal, then together we can make real progress towards achieving it.
“I believe with every fibre of my being that the more decisions we take here in Scotland, the better for Scotland, because no one cares more about this country than the people who live here.
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“We’ve got what it takes to both imagine and to create a better Scotland of that I have no doubt, because there is nothing wrong with Scotland that can’t be fixed with what is right with Scotland.”
Campaigners at Tax Justice Scotland meanwhile called on the First Minister to bring about “fundamental fair tax reforms” to generate additional cash to help tackle the problem.
Speaking on behalf of the umbrella body, which brings together think tanks, trade unions, economists and academics, Lewis Ryder-Jones of Oxfam Scotland stated: “Scotland is rich enough to end child poverty for good if those of us who are able to chip in a bit more.”
He added: “With one in four children in relative poverty in 2022-23, the legal target to cut this to fewer than one in 10 by 2030 will require substantial new policy and spending action.”