Whole Family Support

by Emma Jackson, Assistant Director (Policy & Research) at Citizens Advice Scotland. 

This article was first published in The Herald on 22 August 2026.

This week, the last of the schools across Scotland returned after the summer holidays. Thousands of children flooding back to rhythms and routines, with thousands more parents (including this one) letting out a sigh of relief.  

The holidays present a myriad of challenges; childcare, increased costs and the pressure of trying to juggle it all. And while some of this will ease for some households, the barriers facing families on the lowest incomes have not gone away.  

Across the Citizens Advice network in Scotland, advisers draw alongside families experiencing real hardship. The rising cost of food, energy and rents against a backdrop of low incomes make it impossible for budgets to balance, resulting in sleepless nights, meals being missed and cold homes. 

More than one in seven of the people (almost 24,000) our network supports are from families who make up priority groups – that's the six groups at highest risk of experiencing relative child poverty identified by the Scottish Government. For those families, the most pressing issues to get advice on remain social security, debt and energy.  

Single parents disproportionately need advice on emergency food. That’s one in five needing advice on food insecurity from their local CAB.  

One of the unique elements of our network has always been the person-centred way in which advice is offered. Always free, confidential and impartial. And always examining the complete set of circumstances people face. Our insight demonstrates that few issues exist in isolation and that positive outcomes are achieved for families when solutions work in harmony with one another.  

Families like Mary’s. Mary and her partner were really struggling after she lost her job. Unable to afford everyday essentials for their children, the financial and emotional strain was severe. Mary was reluctant to seek support for fear of being judged yet reached out to her local CAB.  

Here she found the emotional, practical and financial support so desperately needed. A grant to cover energy costs, successful social security applications, support to cover travel costs for attending job interviews but moreover, the consistent care from a named adviser. The impact was immediate as essentials could be paid for, their tenancy secured and Mary accessed support that led to her return to employment.  

Whole family support, delivered at scale with adequate and sustainable resources, forms an essential part of solutions needed to help tackle child poverty. Lasting impact that targets the root causes of poverty will only be secured when service delivery is aligned with systems change.  

But we can never lose sight of the systems and structures that force families and children into poverty and keep people trapped there. That means action must be taken on increasing incomes and reducing costs through bold and targeted policy interventions, building on what we know works. For example, cash first approaches not only afford families dignity and choice but form the foundation for financial stability. 

We know the change we need to see. Social security payments that are adequate and accessible, rents and energy bills that are affordable, and essential services like travel and childcare that are more readily available to all help make work achievable. Urgent action is what needs to happen.