Poverty remains a ‘persistent challenge’ for families, new research finds
New research, commissioned by Parenting Across Scotland and produced by The Lines Between, has examined the main challenges facing parents and carers in Scotland and identified poverty, health and wellbeing, childcare and early years, and hobbies as key issues.
The Parenting Evidence Review 2025-26, published last Thursday, analysed 26 reports encompassing the views and experiences of over 20,000 parents and carers from at least 31 local authorities.
The review found that:
• Poverty remains a persistent challenge for families. Whilst social security payments and measures provide relief, they don’t go far enough to tackle the scale of the problem.
• Parents and carers frequently report stress, anxiety, isolation and pressure to meet societal expectations of parenting.
• Access to early years provision, childcare and children’s hobbies play a significant role in shaping parenting experiences.
Evidence from the review includes the experiences of:
• Single parents,
• black or minority ethnic parents,
• disabled parents or parents with disabled children,
• carers,
• parents with care experience,
• parents who have had a child put into the care system,
• and foster parents.
Providing an updated picture of the current landscape, the findings show that in spite of policy interventions made by the Scottish Government in areas such as Whole Family Support and child poverty, issues such as poverty, health and childcare persistently impact families. Parenting Across Scotland hopes the research will be a helpful resource for supporting policy and campaigning work in Scotland.
