about joined up for families

More than one in four of Scotland’s children are officially recognised as living in poverty (Source: Scottish Government). The Joined Up for Families strategy launched in April 2022 and supports the development of a growing number of family focused projects in Edinburgh and the wider City Region. 

Poverty rarely has one single cause - a range of factors including rising living costs, low pay, lack of work and issues around accessing and receiving social security benefits mean that some families don't have enough resources to meet the cost of living. As a result, families experiencing poverty are typically dealing with a multitude of issues.

Joined Up for Families offers development support and contract management to projects supporting the six priority family groups most affected by poverty and inequality to progress. These projects include the Parental Employability Support Fund, the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region the Deal Intensive Family Support Service, Maximise! and the development of several new whole family support projects including The Whole Family Equality Project and the expansion of Maximise! Early Years in Edinburgh. 

The six priority family types identified as being at highest risk of child poverty are: 

-  Lone parent families 

- Ethnically diverse families

- Families with a disabled adult or child 

- Families with a younger mother (under 25) 

- Families with a child under 1

- Larger families (3+ children)  

The projects that Joined Up for Families supports offer holistic support to parents and whole families to overcome barriers such as poverty, isolation, financial and housing issues, trauma, and poor mental health.