Has poverty increased in scotland since devolution?
That’s a tough one because the policies introduced by Labour in Westminster and by the Labour-LibDem coalition in Scotland have both being trying to address the worse excesses of poverty. It can be argued that Labour’s family-income tax credit scheme has been poorly administered and expensive to run, but it has helped the majority of the people it was intended for. The (mostly Liberal Democrat) initiatives of free care for the elderly, free eye tests and payment of university tuition fees for Scottish students has helped the those people who have not benefited from the family tax credit scheme. So, although you need to research these more in depth for your essay, I would suggest that poverty has decreased in Scotland since devolution rather than increased. Hoped this has helped!
