Poverty in Scotland 2025

Overview

The Poverty in Scotland 2025 report, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, provides a comprehensive picture of who is experiencing poverty in Scotland, how this is changing, and why current policies are failing to reduce hardship.

The findings are particularly relevant for organisations working with young people. Poverty is a key driver of youth homelessness, increasing the risk of family breakdown, insecure housing, poor mental health and disrupted education. This report highlights how structural inequalities, rising living costs and inadequate income support continue to place young people at heightened risk of housing instability.

At Rock Trust, we use evidence like this to inform our prevention work, strengthen our policy influencing, and advocate for youth-specific solutions to homelessness across Scotland.

What the report covers

The report draws on the latest available data to explore:

• Who is living in poverty in Scotland, including trends by age, household type and employment status.
• Deep and persistent poverty, where households remain trapped below the poverty line for extended periods.
• In-work poverty, highlighting the limits of employment as a route out of hardship.
• The impact of housing costs, including rent, energy bills and insecure tenancies.
• The effectiveness of Scottish and UK Government policies in reducing poverty.

While the report looks at poverty across the population, its findings underline how young people and young adults face distinct risks linked to low pay, insecure work, reduced social security entitlements and limited access to affordable housing.

How poverty in Scotland relates to youth homelessness

Poverty and homelessness are deeply interconnected. For young people in particular:

• Financial pressure is a major factor in relationship breakdown, the most common cause of youth homelessness.
• Rising housing costs make it harder for young people to remain at home safely or secure independent accommodation.
• Poverty increases exposure to poor mental health, educational disruption and exploitation.
• Insecure incomes make homelessness more likely to recur, even after initial support.

The evidence in this report reinforces the need for early intervention, income security, and youth-specific housing and support services to prevent homelessness before crisis point.

Rock Trust’s perspective

Rock Trust works to end youth homelessness by making it rare, brief and non-recurring. Evidence from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation supports what we see every day in our services: housing alone is not enough.

Preventing youth homelessness requires:

• Early intervention with families and young people under financial pressure
• Youth-specific prevention approaches, such as school-based support and mediation
• Secure, affordable housing options designed around young people’s needs
• Wraparound support that helps young people build stability, skills and resilience

We use research like this to strengthen our policy asks, shape service design, and work with partners to tackle the root causes of youth homelessness in Scotland.