Dundee has the fifth highest rate of child poverty in Scotland, it has emerged.
Mr Guild continued, “Dundee Energy Efficiency Advice Project, run by the council, continues to tackle fuel poverty with specialist advice. This helps families make the most of their incomes by saving on fuel costs.”
There are 90,000, or one in 10, children in Scotland living in what Save the Children term as “severe poverty” where households survive on less than 50% of the median income.
A staggering 72% of these children live in homes where no adult works.
A total of 15 local authorities have some level of severe child poverty that is above the national average with the top five found to have disproportionately high jobseeker claimants per vacancy.
Last month it emerged Dundee has the most expensive welfare bill in Scotland, and third |highest in the UK, working out at £3301 per person.
To help combat unemployment, Save the Children is calling on the Scottish Government to create new jobs in the poorest areas, as well as increase financial support for low-income families, for example, by paying for more childcare costs, enabling parents to work.
Douglas Hamilton, Save the Children’s head of Scotland, said if urgent action is not taken the country will end up with a “lost generation.”
According to Save the Children, a lone-parent family with one child aged under 14 in severe poverty is living on an income of less than £7000 and a couple with two |children under 14 is on less than £12,500.
The shock findings, released by UK charity Save the Children, reveal 12% of the city’s young people are growing up in deprived living conditions well above the national average of 9%.
Glasgow city topped the study with 18% followed by North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and Clackmannanshire which each had 14%.
With widespread cuts in the public sector set to get worse, increases in VAT and inflation on the horizon and sustained unemployment, Save the Children, warn even more youngsters will be forced into poverty over the coming months without urgent action coming from the government.
What is more, Scotland is now officially the hardest place in the UK to find employment, contributing to the number of poor households.
At present, there are 13 people chasing every job in Dundee, a higher rate than in Glasgow city where there are 11.
Responding to the bleak report, Dundee City Council leader Ken Guild said one child in poverty is one too many and pledged that the authority will do all it could to create opportunities for families.
“Dundee City Council is working hard in close co-operation with a number of statutory and voluntary partners in the city to help reduce the number of children in poverty,” he added.
“A number of successful partnerships have been established within the council across departments, and with NHS Tayside, Tayside Police, voluntary organisations and the private sector as part of an integrated approach to children’s services.
“In Dundee we have a good track record of helping people to claim benefits to which they are entitled. Over the last few years more than £8 million in previously unclaimed benefits has been paid out, and that money has made a real difference to the lives of families.”