Poverty of home life is not just about money

The research aimed to better understand the views of young people themselves and provide their perspective on how best to tackle the gap in achievement between children living in poverty and their better-off peers. It was peer-led and consisted of an Ipsos Mori survey of 1,000 young people in schools in poor areas in Scotland. Young researchers followed up with a series of focus groups in schools.

Learning Lessons raises important issues for policy makers and politicians. It contains findings that both challenge and confirm our assumptions about young people's views of poverty and education. For instance, when asked about whether poverty affected young people's chances of success, 64 per cent said they felt they had the same or more chances. And when asked if they thought that poverty affected how well they do at school, 63 per cent thought that it didn't. On the basis of these responses, it seems they do not think that poverty has much impact on their life or educational chances.