ONE in four children in Scotland live in relative poverty after housing costs.

That’s the miserable top line from the Scottish Government’s latest statistics, published last week, which showed the overall numbers of children living in poverty increased last year by 30,000.

The figures for this area are similar, with a recent Inverclyde Council report identifying East Greenock and Upper Port Glasgow as among the most affected neighbourhoods.

It's unacceptable child poverty has become so normalised, particularly when you consider this country is one of the richest on earth in terms of overall wealth.

We continue to live in a society where wealth is unfairly divided, with the divide between rich and poor far wider than comparative countries. This isn’t just down to inertia but political choices. Rather than build an economy based around people’s needs, our governments continue to get their priorities wrong.

It’s been disappointing but unsurprising that the public and parliamentary debate around these latest statistics have revolved entirely around whether there’s enough funding for social security.

When I raised the figures last week in the Scottish Parliament, the Social Justice secretary pointed to the Scottish Child Payment, the Scottish Government’s flagship welfare policy.

Currently, households eligible for certain benefits and tax credits can claim £25 a week.

Scottish Labour fought for, and won, enhanced social security powers, which allowed the Scottish Parliament to create new benefits in devolved areas and top-up reserved benefits.

So far from rubbishing this, I fully welcome it and I used my questions to the minister to clarify how well targeted this payment is and what evaluation has been carried out on how it can be used even more effectively.

I also recognise the extent to which benefits like the Scottish Child Payment are mitigating Tory austerity, the impact of which is starkly apparent when you consider figures in England are even more alarming.

However, we need to consider what gives rise to the need for increased social security funding in the first place.

The truth is the Scottish Government has been giving with one hand but taking with the other.

Increasing benefits helps families keep their heads above water, but the challenges they face are often influenced by Government failures elsewhere.

Public health has deteriorated in key areas and NHS waiting times have steadily increased to unbearable levels.

The Scottish Government recently cut the housing budget by £200 million, an unconscionable decision during a homelessness and cost of living crisis.

And, as many readers will have been following in the Tele, the Scottish Government has also imposed disproportionate cuts to local government over many years.

Uprating social security isn’t the only mechanism for lifting people out poverty – we need to rebuild our economy, develop an industrial strategy that creates jobs and keeps wealth in the local economy, tax progressively and invest in lifeline services.

That’s what we must fight for if we want to lift children out of poverty and ensure all families have more than enough to get by.