This section presents evidence on poverty in Scotland. Different groups of the population may have different causes of poverty. The causes of poverty are not necessarily linear or direct - poverty tends to be the conflux of a number of events which combined result in household poverty. Some of these events are macro-economic events (such as availability of employment with the hours and pay rates to lift individuals out of poverty), and some are related to equality characteristic (gender, ethnicity, disability).
The official poverty statistics and a range of evidence are presented. Use the links below to search for evidence.