Child poverty 'may cost £1.75bn'

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Child poverty could be costing Scotland as much as £1.75bn a year, according to a Scottish Government report.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the figures underlined the need for a government-wide approach.

The report, entitled Estimating the Cost of Child Poverty - Approaches and Evidence, argued that extra services cost between £500m and £750m a year.

It said the knock-on costs for young people not in employment, education or training could be as much as £1bn.

The report's author admitted that estimating the costs of child poverty was not a "precise science."

The study concluded that child poverty resulted in increased public spending across health, education, housing, social services and youth justice.

Ms Sturgeon said: "An important message in the report is that helping parents into work is probably the single most important way of lifting children out of poverty."

The government has pledged to put a co-ordinated strategy to tackle the issue in place by the end of this year.

Both the Scottish and Westminster governments are committed to eradicating child poverty by 2020.