Explained

Poverty in Scotland explained

Plain-English answers to what poverty means in Scotland, how it is measured, why housing costs matter and what the official statistics show.

Read and check

Poverty explained

3 articles

Abstract cut-paper illustration contrasting a dense Glasgow-style urban landscape with open areas through uneven data-like bands

Poverty explained

Drug deaths in Scotland: the deprivation divide

People in Scotland's most deprived areas had about 12 times the drug-death rate of those in the least deprived areas in 2024. Glasgow had the highest council-area rate over 2020–2024. The link is stark, but it needs to be read carefully.

8 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

A parent in work clothes walking home with her school-age child and a bag of groceries

Poverty explained

Most children in poverty in Scotland have a parent who works

The most common thing said about poverty is that people should get a job. Most of them already have one.

31 Jul 2026 · 4 min read

People walking along a wet Glasgow tenement street after rain

Poverty explained

What does poverty mean in the UK?

The word gets used loosely. The measure behind it is precise, and knowing it makes every other number on this site readable.

31 Jul 2026 · 5 min read