据一家领先的社会改革慈善机构发布的报告称，苏格兰很可能“大幅偏离”具有法律约束力的儿童贫困削减目标。作者：詹姆斯·库克约瑟夫·朗特里基金会（JRF）表示，每五个儿童中就有一个生活在贫困之中，要实现苏格兰政府的承诺，必须进行“根本性变革”。
Scotland is on course to miss legally-binding targets to cut child poverty "by a wide margin", according to a report from a leading social reform charity. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said one in five children was in poverty and "radical change" was needed to put the Scottish government's pledges back on track.
该基金会敦促部长们制定一项“更大胆且资金充足的减贫计划”，通过重塑地方政府、公共服务和税收体系来实现这一目标。
It urged ministers to craft a "much bolder and properly-funded plan to reduce poverty" by rewiring local government, public services and the tax system.
苏格兰政府表示，其政策今年已使10万名儿童免于陷入贫困，取得了巨大进展，但也承认仍有更多工作要做。
The Scottish government said it had made great strides, with its policies keeping 100,000 children out of poverty this year, but accepted there was more to do.
2017年，苏格兰议员通过了一项法律，要求部长们实现四个目标，其中包括到2030年将相对贫困儿童的比例降至10%以下。
In 2017, MSPs passed a law requiring ministers to hit four targets, including pushing the share of children in relative poverty below 10% by 2030.
然而，JRF发布的《苏格兰贫困状况报告》发现，这一比例依然居高不下，2022年至2025年期间平均为21%，而英国平均水平为28%。
But the JRF's Poverty in Scotland report found the figure remained stubbornly high, averaging 21% from 2022 to 2025. The UK average is 28%.
相对贫困是指家庭在扣除住房成本后的可支配收入低于英国中位数收入的60%，并根据家庭规模和构成进行调整。
Relative poverty means a household has disposable income after housing costs below 60% of the UK median, adjusted for family size and composition.
报告总体结论指出，苏格兰有94万人处于相对贫困状态，占人口总数的17%。
Overall, the report concluded, 940,000 people in Scotland were in relative poverty – 17% of the population.
该慈善机构表示，“尽管取得了一些进展”，但苏格兰政府现有的计划“无法带来扭转局势所需的变革规模”。
The charity said that "despite some progress" the Scottish government's existing plans "will not deliver the scale of change needed to shift the dial."
报告称，失败的原因“十分复杂”，可能包括英国政府的紧缩政策、生活成本危机，以及“苏格兰地方与中央政府之间功能失调的关系”。苏格兰社会正义与住房事务大臣雪莉-安妮·索默维尔目前正在主持对减贫目标的审查，此前一些中期目标未能实现，且数据收集方式也进行了调整，这给评估进展带来了困难。
Reasons for the failure were "complex", it said, but could include UK government austerity, a cost of living crisis, and "a dysfunctional relationship between local and national government in Scotland." Scotland's Social Justice and Housing Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, is currently overseeing a review of the poverty reduction goals after some interim targets were missed and data collection was adjusted, complicating the ability to assess progress.
这些目标基于年度数据，而年度数据可能波动较大，但JRF和苏格兰政府均认为，三年平均数据更具参考价值。
The targets are based on annual figures which can be volatile but JRF and the Scottish government agree that three-year averages are more useful.
JRF敦促萨默维尔不要削弱目标，而应设定“具有延展性、法定性、基于收入的减贫目标，并配以强有力的问责措施”。
The JRF urged Somerville not to weaken the goals but to set "stretching, statutory, income-based poverty-reduction targets, with strong accountability measures".
从上任第一天起，这个问题就一直是约翰·斯温尼个人政治计划的核心。
From day one in the job, the issue has been at the heart of John Swinney's personal political project.
“我的首要任务将是努力消除苏格兰的儿童贫困，”他在2024年于爱丁堡最高法院宣誓就职后几分钟，作为首席大臣接受我的首次采访时这样告诉我。
"My overriding priority will be to work to eradicate child poverty in Scotland," he told me in his first interview as first minister, minutes after being sworn in at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in 2024.
在今年苏格兰议会选举中成功保住权力的竞选中，这位苏格兰民族党领袖重申了他“消除儿童贫困的决心”。
In his successful campaign to retain power at this year's Holyrood election, the Scottish National Party leader repeated his "determination to eradicate child poverty."
但JRF表示，此类言论与“苏格兰各地贫困家庭的生活现实”之间如今存在“日益脱节”。其报告称，少数族裔家庭儿童的相对贫困率最高，达到47%。
But the JRF says there is now an "increasing disconnect" between such rhetoric and "the reality of life for families in poverty across Scotland."
报告还称，苏格兰总人口中有11%被定义为处于深度贫困，7%处于极深度贫困。
Its report said relative poverty rates were highest – at 47% – for children in ethnic minority families.
在报告发布前发表的一份声明中，雪莉-安妮·萨默维尔表示，苏格兰儿童补助金正在“为超过32万名儿童的父母提供无与伦比的经济支持”。她说，苏格兰政府将通过扩大儿童早餐俱乐部，并投资超过4000万英镑改善父母获得交通和技能培训的机会，来做更多事情。
It added that 11% of Scotland's overall population was defined as being in deep poverty and 7% in very deep poverty. In a statement issued in advance of the report's publication, Shirley-Anne Somerville said the Scottish child payment was "providing unparalleled financial support to the families of over 320,000 children."
“总体而言，在2026-27年度，我们将投入约35亿英镑用于应对贫困和生活成本问题的政策，”她补充说。JRF报告认为，以下政策有助于减少贫困。
The Scottish government would do more, she said, by expanding breakfast clubs for children and investing more than £40m in improving access to transport and skills for parents.
创造灵活且薪酬优厚的工作岗位，尤其是在苏格兰那些人们难以在住所附近找到工作的地区。扩大优质且价格合理的儿童保育服务的覆盖范围，同时提供足够的灵活性，让低收入家庭的父母能够安心工作。确保社会保障金支付水平充足，特别是为那些可能需要自费承担护理费用的残障人士提供保障。维持并改善社会住房和经济适用房的供应，这有助于苏格兰将贫困率保持在英国平均水平以下。
该报告重点关注了苏格兰32个地方议会“在减少贫困方面所发挥的关键作用”，并指出地方政府目前正处于大规模调整初期阶段。
"Overall in 2026-27 we are committing around £3.5bn to policies that tackle poverty and the cost of living," she added. The JRF report suggests the following policies can help to reduce poverty. Create flexible, well-paid jobs, especially in parts of Scotland where people cannot find work within easy reach of their homes Expand access to high-quality, affordable childcare with the flexibility to allow parents in low-income families to work Ensure adequate levels of social security payments, especially for people with disabilities who may have to fund their own care Maintain and improve provision of social and affordable housing, which has helped Scotland keep its poverty rate below the UK average The report focused on the "critical role" of Scotland's 32 councils in reducing poverty, noting that local government is in the early stages of a big shake up.
报告得出结论：“地方议会做得还不够，”并指出，“低收入人群以及生活在更贫困地区的居民反映，他们对公共服务体验更差，不满程度也更高。”报告敦促斯威尼政府抓住机会，打造“重新调整职能”的地方议会，使其能够与第三部门合作，在减贫工作中发挥更充分的作用。
"Councils are not doing enough," it concludes, "with people on low incomes and living in more deprived areas reporting worse experiences of services and higher levels of disaffection." The report urges Swinney's government to embrace the opportunity to craft "refitted" councils which can play a fuller role in poverty reduction, in partnership with the third sector.
报告指出，这不仅需要改革地方政府的结构，还需要改革其资金安排，包括“累退性”的地方税——这种税收“在低收入家庭预算中所占比例远高于富裕家庭”。英国救助信托基金会（JRF）表示，地方议会的资金已经“濒临崩溃”，现行模式“越来越无法适应实际需求”，并“阻碍了地方减贫的努力”。
This, it says, requires reform not just of local government's structure but of its funding, including the "regressive" council tax which "takes up a much larger proportion of low-income households' budgets than better-off households'." Funding of councils, says the JRF, is "stretched to breaking point", with the current model "increasingly unfit for purpose" and "hampering local efforts to reduce poverty".
报告称：“多年的紧缩政策、苏格兰政府不断变化的目标要求、仅覆盖一年的预算，以及数量日益庞大的战略和行动计划，意味着地方议会常常是在‘一只手被绑在背后’的情况下开展工作的。”
"Years of austerity, shifting goalposts from the Scottish government, single-year budgets and an ever-blooming number of strategies and action plans mean councils are often acting with one hand tied behind their back," says the report.
索默维尔在声明中表示，应对贫困问题是苏格兰政府公共服务改革计划的核心内容，其中包括通过一种被称为“全家庭支持”的方法，根据个体需求定制服务。
In her statement, Somerville said tackling poverty was at the heart of the Scottish government's plans for public service reform including tailoring services for individual needs in an approach known as "whole-family support".
“现在正是更进一步的时候，”她说。“这意味着要改变各项服务之间的协作方式，确保它们相互衔接，并以实际需求为导向进行设计，这样家庭就能在正确的时间、正确的地点获得正确的支持。”
"The time to go further is now," she said. "That means changing how services work together, ensuring they are joined up and designed around need, so that families can get the right support, at the right time and in the right place."
JRF将目前面向全家庭的支持措施及其资金落实情况描述为“完全不足”。地方当局代表组织Cosla在一份声明中表示，其成员对这份报告非常重视，并将尽一切努力减少贫困。
The JRF describes the current roll-out and funding for whole-family support as "wholly inadequate." In a statement, Cosla, which represents local authorities, said its members took the report seriously and would do everything possible to cut poverty.
但该组织资源事务发言人凯莉·帕里表示，各地方议会正受到资金短缺和服务需求不断上升的制约。
But its resources spokesperson, Kelly Parry, said councils were being constrained by funding shortages and rising demand for services.
由Diffley Partnership为JRF开展的民意调查显示，三分之二的人认为其所在的地方议会资金不足，而持相反观点的人仅占4%。
Opinion polling conducted by the Diffley Partnership for the JRF suggests that two thirds of people think their council is underfunded, with just 4% saying the opposite.
调查还显示，人们严重低估了地方政府61%的资金直接来自苏格兰政府这一事实。相比之下，地方税仅占17%。
It also indicates that people significantly underestimate the 61% share of local government funding which comes directly from the Scottish government. Council tax, by contrast, accounts for just 17%.
该民意调查机构于6月22日至26日对苏格兰的3381名成年人进行了调查。“我们已准备好为自身所做出的贡献承担起责任，”帕里补充道。
The pollster surveyed 3,381 adults in Scotland between 22 and 26 June. "Councils are ready to be held accountable for the contribution we make," added Parry.
“但责任必须与相应的权力、公平且灵活的多年期资金，以及实现持久变革所必需的真诚合作相匹配。”
"But responsibility must be matched by the powers, fair and flexible multi-year funding, and genuine partnership needed to deliver lasting change."