Glasgow councillors are demanding to know the exact number of children living in poverty across the city as more families apply for Universal Credit. 

While it has been confirmed that some people will have been affected financially by the Covid-19 pandemic more so than others, the number of people living below the poverty line has not yet been determined.

And fears have been raised that a cut to Universal Credit could see more children end up in poverty.

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As of November 2020, there were just over 71,000 people on the Universal Credit which was 88% higher than in March 2020.

Glasgow City Council has been working to meet the Scottish Government’s target to reduce child poverty by 2030 with interim targets set for 2023. 

It is hoped that in two years time, less than 18% of children will be living in relative poverty – where households live on less than 50% of the average income. The local authority is also aiming to have less than 14% of children living in absolute poverty – where the family finds it impossible to access basic needs of life including food, shelter and healthcare. 

An update was presented to the general purposes city policy committee earlier this week. 

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City treasurer councillor Ricky Bell said: “While we have all been affected by Covid 19, we know that for some groups, the social, economic and health harms caused by both the virus and the associated lockdown measures will be greater for our families living in poverty.

“Covid will have increased the number of people living in financial difficulty. When lockdown was declared across Scotland in March 2020, the emergency response across the council, the NHS and GGC and partners was immediate.”

Over the past 12 months the local authority has helped families struggling to access food, fuel, mental health and digital support.

Questions were asked from two Labour councillors about the number of children who are going to end up in poverty because of cuts to Universal Credit. 

Councillor Robert Mooney asked: “Do we know how many more children are going to end up in poverty because of cuts to Universal Credit (UC)?

“I know an extra £20 per week was added to UC because of covid but it has now been taken away. What effect will this have?”

His colleague Jim Kavanagh added: “It’s a very dark day for the city when we talk about child poverty. We expect there to be a massive decrease in 2021 – in fact it’s turned itself upside down where there’s a massive increase in child poverty.

“We must have an idea of how many children in our city are in poverty.”

Councillor Bell confirmed that the number would be obtained and sent to both councillors offline. An update on the child poverty action plan will be presented to the city administration committee for approval.