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For Scotland's children report

chapter 1 a snapshot

A Scotland in which Every Child Matters

The Government is committed to 'A Scotland in which every child matters, where every child regardless of their family background, has the best possible start in life.'

The starting point for such a commitment has to be the reality of children's lives here in Scotland. And if we look at what we know we see that:

• There are approximately 1 million children under the age of 16 living in Scotland and a further 326,000 16 to 21-year-olds.
• The birth rate in Scotland is falling with around 55,000 live births in any one year. The number of births to unmarried parents continues to rise, with around 40% of all births in such families.
• Scotland has some of the highest rates of relative child poverty in the developed world. One third of Scotland's households are in or on the margins of poverty. One in five children is entitled to free school meals, a benefit only available to those children whose carers receive Income Support or Income Based Job Seekers Allowance. 1 in every 10 babies born to families living in poverty has low birth weight; these babies are up to 12 times more likely to die in their first year of life. 52 of the 90 most deprived postcode areas in Scotland are in Glasgow.
• In Scotland 80 children under the age of 16 become homeless every day. In any one year approximately 11,500 young people aged 16 to 24 years old apply to their local authority for housing support as homeless - 1 in 4 of all homeless applications. There are currently 4,000 households in Scotland living in temporary accommodation and around 360,000 children in Scotland living in accommodation affected by dampness or condensation.
• In any one year approximately 8,000 children under the age of 16 live in families where parents are divorcing. Figures for relationship breakdown amongst the 1 in 5 adults who cohabit, but remain unmarried, are not available and so it is likely that many more children also live through family dislocation every year. 1 in 4 marriages in Scotland is now a re-marriage and 1 in 8 children will grow up in a stepfamily. There are 162,000 one-parent families in Scotland which together contain more than 280,000 children. 1 in 5 households are headed by a lone parent and 93% of the lone parents are women.
• Almost 40,000 exclusions are made in Scotland's schools every year. More boys than girls are excluded.
• Fatal child pedestrian accident rates for 10 to 14 year olds in Scotland are amongst the highest in Europe. The poorest children are four times more likely to be killed in a road accident than the wealthiest. At home the poorest children are 9 times more likely to die in a fire.
• Little is known about children's experiences as victims of crime although in 1 year ChildLine reports 2,600 calls from children reporting experiences of violence including being hit, punched, bitten and hit with implements such as belts and electric cables. 1 in 4 primary school pupils and 1 in 10 secondary pupils report having been victimised by bullies. Research conducted by ChildLine reports that Black/minority ethnic children "...endure unrelentingly openly racist harassment and bullying on a daily basis."
• Around 100,000 children in Scotland live with domestic violence.
• The numbers of children reporting abuse is increasing. Approximately 6000 children are referred annually to social work departments in relation to child protection issues. In cases where a category of abuse is recorded around 70% of suspected perpetrators are either birth parents or parent substitutes. At March 1999 2,361 Scottish children were on the Child Protection Register.
• In Scotland around 9000 children run away every year, within this figure 1,600 children under the age of 11 years run away for the first time. 1 in 7 children who run away will be physically or sexually assaulted while away from home.
• There is a widely shared view that children with disabilities are not receiving the care, education or training opportunities they require. For many, education outwith the mainstream and their community can lead to isolation and exclusion.
• There is a high incidence of mental health problems amongst children and young people and access to appropriate services is variable, with particular concerns for the mental health needs of looked after children.
• The rate of teenage conception in Scotland is the highest in Europe.
• Around half of all 13 to 16 year olds undertake some kind of paid work. It is estimated that around 1 in 5 of these children will have an accident at work.
• Accurate figures for the numbers of children and young people who are refugees or asylum seekers in the UK are not known. Families are registered only in terms of the 'principal applicant' or head of family. At present there are about 5,000 asylum seekers in Glasgow of up to 40 nationalities including Afghan, Iraqi, Turkish and Albanian. In August this year, there were 1103 asylum seeker children in Glasgow schools. The experience of violence and harassment experienced by families has received much attention recently.
• In terms of 16 and 17 year olds almost 1 in 4 is unemployed, with no automatic entitlement to benefits. In recent years two thirds of applications for Severe Hardship Payments have been repeat and continuous claims, indicating a core of extremely poor and vulnerable young people.
• In 1999/2000 63,857 referrals were made to the Children's Hearing System. The majority of referrals are in connection with crimes or offences committed by children. Referrals in relation to care and protection issues are on the rise. While the Children's Hearing system has the authority to retain 16 to 18 year olds who commit crimes within the system many of these young people become involved with the adult criminal justice system.
• Just over 11,000 children are looked after. Almost half are currently living at home. The greatest number of looked after children are aged 12 to 16 years. Recent reports have explored the continuing failure of many local authorities as 'corporate parents' to provide these young people with the care and education they are entitled to by law. Up to 75% of looked after children leave school with no formal qualifications. Less than 1% go to university. It is estimated that between 20% and 50% of young homeless people have been in the care of a local authority.

If every child does matter, there is much to do and both the targeted and universal services that children and their families come into contact with must address better the picture presented here.

Sources: 'All Children, All Ages' (2000) A report on implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Scotland published by the Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights and 'Fact File 2000: Facts and Figures about Scotland's Children' by NCH Scotland, and Appendix 3 of this Report.

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