Growing up in the new Scotland
Published on Tue 3 Jun 2014
Geography's Lorraine van Blerk helps organise Growing up in the New Scotland event
Growing up in the new Scotland: The impact of independence on the future of Scotland’s children
This is a Five Million Questions event
10/6/14, 6pm, Dalhousie Building Although most public services pertinent to children’s lives such as health and education are already devolved to the Scottish Government, they are still likely to be transformed under a new Scotland. Further the welfare system, its benefits and cuts remain the responsibility of the UK Government and this directly impacts family and child poverty. This remains a challenge and currently Scotland is predicted to see an increase of more than 50,000 children pushed into poverty by 2020 (Institute of Fiscal Studies).
However child poverty is one issue that the Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon believes independence can tackle recently stating in a speech to the End Child Poverty Coalition that a yes vote would allow the building of ‘a country where child poverty belongs in the past’. This ‘Five Million Questions’ event will seek to explore what a ‘Yes’ vote would mean for the future of Scotland’s children, and just as importantly, from the perspective of Better Together, how a united Great Britain can more effectively deal with the current challenges if the referendum result is ‘No’. This event - organised through The Transforming Childhoods Research Network (www.transformingchildhoods.wordpress.com) - will discuss child poverty and other issues of important to those working in Children’s Services, parents and families, and young people themselves with opportunities for participation through questions to the panel.
The panel includes:
Aileen Campbell MSP: The Scottish Government Minister for Children and Young People and is the SNP MSP for Clydsale.
Kezia Dugdale MSP: A Scottish Labour Party Member of the Scottish Parliament, first elected to serve the Lothian region in 2011. Kezia Dugdale is Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education.
Professor Kay Tisdall is Professor of Childhood Policy, Programme Director MSc Childhood Studies and Co-director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh (www.crfr.ac.uk). Kay's recent research projects include theorising children's participation, investigating school councils, early education and learning across European countries, and contested contact in situations of domestic abuse. She has a considerable interest in the links between policy, practice and academia.
Dr John H McKendrick: is a Senior Lecturer in the Glasgow School for Business and Society at Glasgow Caledonian University. His research and professional interests straddle three areas: poverty, play and children's environments. John seeks to inform the work of those who tackle poverty in Scotland, the UK and the EU. This year, he edited Poverty in Scotland 2014: The Independence Referendum and Beyond (CPAG Scotland), a collection of papers in the inaugural edition of the Journal of Playwork Practice (Playwork in Times of Austerity) and has penned A Red Road to Regeneration for Scotland (briefing for the Jimmy Reid Foundation).