Darren McGarvey: Politics holds back child poverty action

The Herald Scotland

30-04-2025

He spoke to The Herald as part of the series on child poverty, where the newsbrand has joined forces with 23 leading charities to call on First Minister John Swinney to take "urgent action" on child poverty.
That action would require the Scottish Government to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 each week, per child.
An open letter was also addressed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, with The Herald warning the two-child benefit cap must be abolished to make progress.
Child poverty is an issue McGarvey is acutely aware of, with his own life experience leading him to become one of the country's leading social commentators on poverty, class and addiction.
The Orwell Prize winner grew up in poverty in Pollok, in the south side of Glasgow, raised alongside his siblings by his single father.
His mother, who McGarvey described as a violent alcoholic, left when he was 10 and he has battled his own addiction issues.
In an extensive interview with The Herald, McGarvey said: "Growing up in the 80s and 90s in the south side in Pollok, I remember it being really, in hindsight, pretty bleak.
Read more:
The Herald unites with 23 charities to push First Minister on child poverty
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Find all articles in our Scotland's Forgotten Children series here
"There was so much violence in the community, there was so much alcoholism in the community, and it wasn't really until the Labour government of 1997 came in, the mood started to change a little bit, community centres started open, there was funding for youth projects.
"While all of the stuff did make a difference, in a sense, I think that the fundamentals of our society remain the same in terms of any extra benefits that a poor person is getting, or any extra benefits that a child is getting.
"It's almost like compensation for the fact that society isn't actually changing and that means your postcode still really determines the quality of your education, the quality of your health, and that's my sort of take on it anyway."
With that, he said, comes a sense of "imposter syndrome" for those from working class backgrounds who are able to escape the cycle.
In 2013, McGarvey quit drinking and attended Glasgow Clyde College, gaining a journalism qualification.
His first book, Poverty Safari, was released in 2017 and received acclaim.
It landed McGarvey the Orwell Prize in 2018 for its auto-biographical account of growing up in poverty, while also challenging how the issues are solved.
Around that time though, his drug use began to spiral out of control and he subsequently checked into the Abbeycare rehabilitation clinic in Erskine, beginning his recovery journey.
His second book, The Social Distance Between us, challenges the divide between decision-makers and society.
McGarvey told The Herald the challenge for politicians lies in standing by their commitments while in government and winning votes from the electorate.
The First Minister said his main ambition in office was to eradicate child poverty, with the Scottish Government aiming to reduce relative poverty to 10%. The interim target of 18% in 2023-24 was missed, however.
McGarvey said: "Even someone who is sincere about doing it, there is also the electoral calculus that has just got to be taken into consideration.
"A lot of the people affected by poverty don't engage in the democratic process, so they don't have a voice.
"What happens is the politician who is sincere in their desire to alleviate poverty, they first have to get the most affluent voters on voters on board and you don't get the most affluent voters on board by levelling the playing field.
"The playing field has been unfair for so long that levelling it begins to feel like a very personal attack on middle class people and their children."
Read more:
'Devastating': Charity boss reveals essential items children in poverty are missing
In full: The Herald's open letter to John Swinney on Scottish Child Payment
In full: The Herald's open letter calling for Sir Keir Starmer to scrap benefit cap
He uses the example private school fees being subjected to a 20% VAT rate from January this year.
McGarvey said last month that private education should be abolished to tackle the "gross inequality" in the industry.
"The people with the sharpest elbows get the megaphones out and the politicians get frightened to stand up to them and this means that you can't deal with the poorest until the most affluent feel secure that their medium and long-term interests are being looked after, and they'll always be looked after no what party is in (government), and that is a result of the electoral reality in this country," he said.
McGarvey also reflected on what it is like to escape the cycle of poverty.
"'I'm embarrassed to say that there has been points in my career over the last few years when I've had no real reason to have financial anxiety, but it's the kind of mindset that you have acquired and you have to work very hard to say 'do you know what, I have enough, I'm ok.'
"I definitely have at point, particularly early in my career, when money felt like it was flooding in from everywhere, and my first instinct was to enjoy a sense of accomplishment and I guess the power that comes from being the person that can pay for the meal, and the person who can pay for the taxi, who can buy the expensive gifts and take people on holiday, and I think sometimes that was out of a desire to make others comfortable - that's a genuine part of my nature - but it was also a false sense of esteem that came out of having a feeling of status or being financially comfortable.
"It was something that I wanted to exhibit to other people, almost as if me on my own is not enough.
"I know a lot of people struggle with that in a materialistic society but I think a lot of us who get into financial problems, coming from poverty, part of having a little bit extra money is the first thing we want to do is to acquire the symbols of affluence so that we could throw people off the scent because we carry a lot of embarrassment."
McGarvey's third book, Trauma Industrial Complex, is scheduled for release in August and unpacks the mechanics of sharing personal discourse on social media.