Scotland's Hidden Child Poverty

North Barlanark and Easterhouse South areas of Glasgow have more than 70% children growing up in poverty. Yet there are pockets of "intense" child poverty among the most affluent areas of Scotland, new analysis has found.

While East Renfrewshire has some of the most prosperous communities in the country, the local authority includes Arthurlie and Dovecothall, where 54.9% of children live in poverty.

Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University found similar inequality in Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Shetland. They said two-thirds of those classed as poor lived outside "deprived" areas.

Prof John McKendrick, who led the research, said it demonstrated the limits of focusing anti-poverty strategies only in the most deprived areas.  His study also found that even in local authorities with the lowest levels of child poverty, there were areas where more than one in every four children were living in deprived circumstances. These included Hillhead in the west end of Glasgow - where 36.9% were in poverty, Peterhead Harbour in Aberdeenshire - where the figures was 31.5%, Lerwick South in Shetland - where 26.2% were in poverty and Stornoway West, with 27.1% in poverty.

"Even within those local authorities with the lowest levels of child poverty in Scotland, there are pockets of intense child poverty in which more than one in every four children are living in poverty. This suggests that even in most of the affluent neighbourhoods there are some people who are living on an income that means that they are not able to afford what the majority of people in Scotland would agree that the majority should be able to afford."