Barnardo’s Scotland urges first minister Alex Salmond to prioritise children

Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has been urged by Barnardo’s Scotland to prioritise children’s services, after it produced a scathing report ranking the country second from bottom for children’s well-being in a list of developed nations.

Barnardo’s ranked Scotland joint 22nd out of 24, alongside Portugal, in a list of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in an index of well-being, which included levels of child poverty, education, teenage pregnancies and suicide.

The country did particularly poorly in child poverty, teenage pregnancy and economic participation among 15- to 19-year-olds, though it was ranked eighth for education.

Martin Crewe, director of Barnardo’s Scotland, said: “This is a great opportunity for the first minister and Scottish government to prioritise children and young people by tackling the inequality of child poverty and setting out five to 10-year strategies for early years and parenting support services.”

The report follows a study published in February by Unicef, which found UK children had the lowest levels of well-being in the developed world.

Related information

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Scottish executive