Why we need to change the way we talk about child poverty to build a better future for children

Why we need to change the way we talk about child poverty to build a better future for children

As part of our HRCS Members Webinar Series, we are pleased to share a new blog from Ben Thurman, who leads Save the Children’s Changing the Story project.

In this blog, Ben explores why the way we talk about child poverty matters - and how changing the story can help build public support for the action needed to end child poverty in Scotland.

The blog comes ahead of our HRCS Members Webinar: Changing the Story of Child Poverty, taking place this Wednesday, 9 September, 1:00–2:00pm, where Ben will explore this work in more detail and share the New Story of Child Poverty in Scotland.

Why we need to change the way we talk about child poverty to build a better future for children

Last week, the First Minister again put “eradicating child poverty” at the top of his government’s agenda when he introduced the Programme for Government. Right now, this ambition feels a long way off. In Scotland, a shocking 1 out of every 5 children is growing up in poverty – limiting their right to a safe, warm home, to learn, to play and to thrive.

Politicians recognise that this must change if we want to build a better Scotland for everyone. Campaigners have long been calling for action. And the public are on side too: a recent poll from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows that more than 80% of people think that reducing child poverty should be a one of the Scottish Government’s top priorities.

And yet, we are not seeing the transformational action that is needed. Somewhere along the way, the conversation is getting stuck. That’s why we need to change the story of child poverty.

For the last couple of years, Save the Children has been working with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in Scotland to understand what people really think and how we can talk about child poverty in a way that connects with the public.

We heard that people really care about the issue and want to live in a Scotland where all children can thrive. But the way we talk about child poverty doesn’t always help: it doesn’t resonate with people with lived experience, nor does it inspire a belief that change is possible. Our key insight from all this research is that facts alone do not galvanise people: we need to tell a better story about why this matters.

And so we listened to a wide range of people, we carried out messaging research to test different ways to talk about the issue, and we used the findings to produce a guide that contains five simple ways to tell The new story of child poverty in Scotland.

The guide gives us a framework to talk about child poverty in a way that will connect with people, build support for change and drive action from politicians and policymakers. And this is where the work really begins. If we want to change the narrative and change the reality for thousands of children in Scotland, we need to build a broad coalition of people who are using the guide to shape their communications and campaigns – whether that is pushing for action to end child poverty, demanding that children’s rights are met unequivocally, or setting out how we build a better Scotland for everyone.

This is a vital moment in Scotland. People want to see an end to child poverty, but they feel disillusioned about change. In this context, we are witnessing the rise of divisive rhetoric and seeing its impact in our communities. The new story gives us a way to offer a more hopeful alternative, one that focuses on positive action to end child poverty and make children’s rights real in Scotland. We invite members of the Human Rights Consortium in Scotland to be part of this change: to use the guide and be part of a movement of people working together to change the story and build a better future for children and for Scotland.

If you would like to find out more about Changing the Story and how to get involved, visit https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/new-story-child-poverty-scotland.

Ben Thurman

Ben works for Save the Children where he leads the Changing the Story project. For the last three years, he has overseen research and message testing, and worked with people with lived experience, to create a new story of child poverty that campaigners can use to build public support for change.

Ben has worked in civil society in Scotland for over 10 years, on issues including care, loneliness and isolation, poverty and the wellbeing economy. He is passionate about investing in relationships and networks to build a collective voice for change.